I hardly have any good memories about my summer holidays two years ago. What I can remember is that I was busy taking drugs with my friends for most of the time. I said to myself that I would quit drugs before I went back to school. But when my school re-opened I was still addicted to drugs.

I went back to school like the other students but I had changed to be a very different person. Most students came back to school with happy faces, but not me. I became a different person that didn’t care about anything except for drugs. It was like I was walking around in a different skin.

I went from an above average student in the top class to a really bad boy. I started to do things I never thought I would do before — like bullying students, and fighting without reason just because someone looked at me the wrong way. I rarely smiled or played sports like I used to. I was always moody and angry with my friends and my teachers. I started to skip school once or twice a week. No one seemed to care so I was soon absent nearly every day.

I started stealing money from my parents and I lied to other people just to get some money for drugs. After my parents found out about me stealing their money and selling their jewellery they got angry with me. I then started to hang out more with my drug addict friends for days and nights without going back home. I even slept by the side of the road and woke up without caring what people would think about me.

After a few months, I was tired with everything I was doing and wanted to quit from this kind of life. I wanted to go back to the person I was before. I asked my parents to take me to any drug rehabilitation clinic they knew. They agreed and helped me without getting angry. They supported me to quit drugs. They first took me to a hospital to have therapy but it didn’t work. I came back and took drugs again. Then they took me to a drug rehab programme in another province. But, after only a few days I ran away.

They took me to a few more places but each time I came back I became more addicted to Yaa Bah. I also started experimenting with other drugs. My parents helped me lots of times but they finally gave up on me when I started stealing from them again.

After that they never trusted or believed anything I said to them again. They said to me that they couldn’t help me if I didn’t help myself. They stopped giving me any money and locked up everything inside the house that could be stolen. They really didn’t trust me even if I asked them for twenty baht to eat. They didn’t give it to me because they thought I was lying to them and wanted the money for drugs.

I then ran away from home and went to stay with my friends who lived in the public toilets near the market. My parents didn’t come to look for me or to take me home. I was like a beggar that no one cared about. I had no place to stay and no food to eat. I did lots of bad and crazy things with my friends during those days that I am now really ashamed about.

If you are a teenager reading this, please don’t do drugs. It isn’t worth it. If you are a teacher reading this, then I am asking you not to give up on any of your students who are taking drugs. All of my teachers gave up on me and threw me out of school. If it wasn’t for a teacher from my old school I would be dead by now or in prison. I will tell you his story next week and how I finally quit drugs.

Continued in Road to Recovery