Southeast Asian Kratom Culture

    Most people in Thailand compare kratom to everyday, harmless habits such as coffee. Seafaring and laborers on rubber plantations are some examples where kratom can be found to be a part of life. The leaves can be purchased for baht1 to baht3, making it cheaper than coffee and energy drinks, another reason it is ideal for poor workers. Kratom is used by southern Thailand residents not only as a stimulant for hard work, but also in local customs. Cultural performances, ceremonies, and even teashops are all traditions where kratom can be found to be a part of.   

        Thailand’s National Household Surveys found in 2007 that kratom is the most widely used substance in their country. It’s been part of Thai culture for at least thousands of years, but its popularity rose around the 1930s. Before this, it was only associated with the lower working class. Peasants chewed the leaves all day while working in the fields, and still do to this day. In southern Thailand one can find some provinces with 70% of the men using kratom.

      A Kratom habit in Thailand is considered culturally respectable in the same way we consider a coffee habit here in the West. What else is interesting is that young people in Thailand are not drawn to kratom use. Which is quite fitting - kratom over there (and here) is not appealing to young people looking for a good time. Most Thai kratom users say they started around the age of 25, and their reason is almost always the same, that they wanted to become a harder worker.

   Men are the traditional users of kratom leaves, as the Thai National Household Surveys show that only around 10% of kratom users are female. Women traditional chew betel nut instead. This practice, like that of chewing kratom, has been around for thousands of years.    

Muslims in the southern provinces, especially those of Yala, Narathiwat, and Pattani, use kratom as an alternative to alcohol, as the rules of their religion don’t allow drinking.