Almost every week in the Australian media we read of another amateur bodybuilder who has died after taking steroids. Last year, Australian celebrity amateur bodybuilder Aziz “Zyzz” Shavershian was found dead in a Pattaya sauna and his death highlighted the surge in popularity of what are known as steroid holidays. It was not the first time a young Australian had died from taking performance-enhancing drugs and steroid use has been linked to a range of health problems including heart failure.
In Thailand, it is easy to buy steroids. One of the most popular is the steroid Andriol, also known as methandrostenolone. The drug is available in tablet form or in injectable form called Testoviron. In Thailand the drug costs less than half what it sells for in the European black market and online. A major seizure of Andriol tablets in Europe recently involved a shipment from Thailand.
The low cost of the drugs is luring thousands of amateur athletes from Australia and as far afield as the UK to take steroid holidays in Thailand and other countries in South East Asia. Jarrad Fisher, a 17-year old rugby player from Queensland, told the ABC last May that on his steroid holiday to Pattaya, he grew from 70kg to full fledged bodybuilder and planned on returning to do another cycle.
The drugs are also readily available at pharmacies in Pattaya, with some pharmacy shop-front windows openly advertising the brand names of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. A quick trip to a Charoen Pharmacy on Sukhumvit Road between Sois 2 and 4 showed Spectrum was able to obtain the whole range of pills and ampoules necessary for anabolic cycles in a matter of minutes, with the drugs sitting in plain sight behind the counter. Steroids Thailand