Today walking up my street I found an old lady selling Betel Nut (well technically it is Areca Nut wrapped in Betel Leaf), a natural stimulant found Asia.
I recognised the Betel Nut for what it was from my trip to Myanmar about 2 years ago where every 10 meters on every street in the main city area of Yangon is someone sitting at a small booth selling Betel Nut in a variety of mixes for different flavour.
Previously I tried Betel Nut there in Myanmar but got no high out of it so today I jumped at the chance to try it again. So in Thai I asked the old lady "How much", her reply "10 baht" about 30 cents so out came the spare change and I walked off the happy new owner of...
Why? Well Betel Nut is a stimulant, said to be as strong as coffee but also addictive, to me that sounds not quite right.... reading up on the customs and talking to people with 1st hand experience with Betel Nut chewers it sounds like it must be a lot stronger than coffee...
In fact it sounds an awefully lot like after chewing for prolonged periods you get a Betel Nut high...
Apparently in Vietnamese culture the Betel Nut high was used as an ice breaker in new social situations, sort of like having a few drinks with someone you first meet to get to know them better.
In Taiwan Betel Nut is (was?) the 2nd biggest cash crop grown and is sold in road side stalls by young women wearing little more than a bikini - sounds like something I could get addicted to. (this has since been confirmed as still being the case by a close friend).
In Thailand chewing Betel Nut for a high is now looked down upon as something the hill tribes and uncultured (uneducated) people do and not something that a Bangkok Thai would be seen doing ever in public or even in private as it stains the mouth and gums and teeth in long term users a distinctive red colour.
So how is it to chew Betel Nut?
Your Face On Betel Nut
Bitter, very bitter, even adding some sugar to the second leaf helped for about 3 seconds. The leaf is bitter and the nut is even more so.
After a few seconds of chewing Betel Nut your mouth starts to produce a lot of saliva, sort of the same defense mechanism when you chew tobacco, so you need a bucket to spit into. With a full mouth of saliva it can be hard to keep your amphetamine like chewed up leaf and nut combination in your mouth long enough for it to have an effect and get the Betel Nut high.
Wikipedia says:
Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild
stimulant, causing a mild hot sensation in the body and slightly
heightened alertness.
Hot sensation and heightened senses, sounds like more than a cup of coffee to me, sounds like a mild(?) natural amphetamine.
Speaking with my Thai girlfriend she says her Grandmother used to chew Betel Nut all the time, unfortunately the lady has passed on so my plan to call her and get 1st hand heavy user details was shelved, but my GF said that she used to chew a lot, as in chomp, chomp, chomp and was lively and active.
Effects Of The Betel Nut High
Now my experience with a whole 30 minutes of chewing Betel Nut (and spitting most of it out) with it not being prepared correctly has been, to wake me up after I was tired after watching Powerkids at the cinema, it is now another 30 minutes after I stopped chewing and my mouth is still numb, foods all taste wrong and not very nice but I am definitely awake and alert. A little bit more alert than I should be and I feel that if I took it on further, like chewed another few packets properly prepared by someone who knew what they were doing and then I chewed Betel Nut all day I have the distinct impression that I would be well and truly ready to hit an all night rave...
Unfortunately with the social stigma attached and the red mouth and teeth I don't think too many people would talk to me and definitely no Bangkok girls so that would limit the usefulness of raving on a Betel Nut high to hanging out with friends who have understanding/tolerant girlfriends as none of my single mates would hang with me repeatedly spitting vast volumes of red saliva every few minutes.
Maybe I can try it when I next go to Myanmar where the practise is a little more socially accepted still :)
Anyway now I am going outside to get some food from the supermarket, luckily, or at least in the dose of Betel Nut that I had it does not seem to affect hunger unlike chemical amphetamine users who don't eat for days.
