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  1. #1

    Permethrin Powder in Thailand

    I live in Thailand and have begun a vigorous pursuit to find permethrin. One would think that a country that has dengue fever issues and shares borders with 2 countries (Cambodia and Myanmar) that now have outbreaks of drug resistant malaria would have at least a few people who knew about treating clothes with permethrin.

    Now I have found sprays that contain permethrin and a few other "added" chemicals. I even had my wife translate one bottle that apparently they can use on bedding and other areas of the house. I would suspect that this may provide some benefit even though it is only .25 percent permethrin. I also found powder that is 1 percent permethrin with no other added chemicals (well I guess 99 percent other chemicals that are inert...or at least they did not think to list the rest of the other chemicals). So I have bought the powder, but now am stymied on concentration when mixed with water. Any budding chemists out there who might be able to determine the proper mix ratio? Anyone else use a powder form previously?

    Additionally, if there is anyone who has ever bought a Sawyer's type of permethrin here, I would appreciate any store or brand names.

    Thanks for any assistance that you might provide.

    ez

  2. #2
    Member Team FTB is in Thailand, and he roams trough the jungles, so maybe he can help you.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Balkan boy View Post
    Member Team FTB is in Thailand, and he roams trough the jungles, so maybe he can help you.
    Thanks Balkan boy. I might try to get a hold of FTB just to find out what other items he has been able to find in Thailand. Most Thais when they camp just go to the National Parks and tent camp. They usually have restaurants there for eating, so not much roughing it. Those that actually go out in the jungle have usually been brought up out in the country and are more accustomed to traditional methods. Finding the right type of permethrin was about as successful as my quest to find denatured alcohol. The alcohol part translated quite well, but denatured just is not a word that easily translates. Guess I am stuck with methanol and powdered permethrin for now. Backpacking and hammock camping just are not wide spread here. I might try to start circulating Shug and Professor Hammock videos to see if I can get something started, but I am doubting very much that it will have any affect. I did run into someone who used a sling blade, now that I think about it... well actually they called it a Kaiser blade (if you have no idea what I am talking about, then look at some Shug videos).

    Anyhow, I went ahead today and tried the powdered permethrin. Not all of it mixed, so after the hammock dries, I will have to put it through a rinse cycle. Not sure what the best test is for this thing other than seeing if I get bit, but also may throw a few ants in to see how they survive when it is complete. Plenty of them around...and many other creepy crawlies

  4. #4
    Senior Member heywoodja's Avatar
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    BTW Sawyers is only .5% permethrin so if you had something that was .25% it might work.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by heywoodja View Post
    BTW Sawyers is only .5% permethrin so if you had something that was .25% it might work.
    This was a spray bottle and while I know you can use this and it is effective, I wanted the long lasting benefits obtained using the immersion method. In the end I can always fall back on the spray if need be. Thanks.

  6. #6
    Senior Member born2roam's Avatar
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    Having spend about 14 months or so in SE Asia (Thailand, Laos, Camboja, Malaysia and Indonesia), I never was too bothered about dengue, malaria OTHER then wearing long sleeved shirts, some locally bought bug spray, smoking coils and camp fire smoke.

    For burning alcohol try the local chemists/drugstore/pharmacie. 70% was easy to find, the better stuff a bit harder but still doable.

    My Thai guides mostly used fire and hammock (and moonshine lao khao or official sangsom )



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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by born2roam View Post
    Having spend about 14 months or so in SE Asia (Thailand, Laos, Camboja, Malaysia and Indonesia), I never was too bothered about dengue, malaria OTHER then wearing long sleeved shirts, some locally bought bug spray, smoking coils and camp fire smoke.

    For burning alcohol try the local chemists/drugstore/pharmacie. 70% was easy to find, the better stuff a bit harder but still doable.

    My Thai guides mostly used fire and hammock (and moonshine lao khao or official sangsom )


    Happy hanging!

    Grtz Johan

    I never used to be bothered with the mosquito problem, but the border area of Thailand and Myanmar has mosquitoes carrying a drug resistant strain of malaria. There are several articles on this and I have one here:

    http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3472652.htm

    This resistant strain was already found a year or so ago in Western Cambodia. So it either developed independently 700 Km away, or spread through Northern Thailand from Western Cambodia to Myanmar. Not sure, but a little more cautious than my younger years.

    Dengue fever is more of an urban problem than rural, so not as concerned in the jungle with that particular disease, but prevent against one and you pretty much prevent against the other (except dengue is carried by a different mosquito that hangs out and hits you during the day).

    On the alcohol, I actually have a bottle labeled as ethanol 70 percent. I did a test burn but it was not quite up to snuff and had a lot of water left over (or some other product). I am sometimes skeptical on some of the translations that I find in Thailand. On one brand of ethanol labeled alcohol, it listed the manufacturer's web address. I went to that address and their product listings only had isopropyl alcohol. So not sure if it really ethanol or isopropyl. I did find an importer and contacted them. They only sell bulk and the minimum I would have to buy is 30 Kg at 180 baht per kilo. So basically $180 worth of alcohol that I have no room to store. Also found it on the web pages of the True Value in Thailand. Got the SKU from the webpage and called them. They no longer stock that item and the government does not want them bringing it in anymore is what I was told. Someone I knew speculated that it was due to meth production and the use of denatured alcohol. Sounded plausible to me based on some of the prescription drug changes they made here with Sudafed and such. Anyhow, I am just going to use the methanol and if I ever run across decent ethanol, then it will be a blessing.

    Thanks for your input and I read a little bit about your wandering years a few nights ago. I am looking forward to hitting the jungles here since it is quite a bit different than what I experienced in the US.

  8. #8
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    Where in Thailand are you located? I used to live there and still have relatives there - I may be able to get the names of some places to try. You can usually find just about anything if you go to the correct store.

  9. #9
    Senior Member sturgeon's Avatar
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    Nothing wrong with methanol. That's what I use here in Canada. Heat output is slightly less than ethanol, but much better than that 70% ethanol stuff you're talking about.

  10. #10
    Ezadventurer - Enjoy your camping about in SEA.

    I'm back in the states for another month and then back to gallivanting about in the hammock soon in SEA.

    Alcohol - I too went through your issues trying to get it translated, a horrific waste of time. Even using the proper Thai name for the product ended up with the locals getting confused. Most restaurants use it for keeping your Thom Yam soup warm when put on the table so that can also be a source of it for you if you’re desperate. I'm using methanol in the stove and it does put out a few BTU's less but beggars can't be choosers, haha. You can get containers of the methanol in the paint section of your local hardware/paint supply place. If you're in a large city it may have a home improvement store named Home Pro and they carry gallon containers with English on the front of the container underneath the Thai script. The container is blue and white in color and a rectangular shape. I wouldn't even bother asking the staff when looking for it as you will most likely end up frustrated, just nose around on your own. I've tried using the local moonshine booze Lao Khao and Lao Lao but most of the time it's not pure enough to ignite.

    Mosquitos - I was camping in the Cardomom Mountains in Western Cambodia where those darn malaria infected and drug resistant mosquitoes can be found. I just use long sleeves and pants come 5:00 PM and so far have gotten lucky and not come down with malaria. Though getting Dengue fever two times now is making me a bit more nervous of the buggers.

    Most of my equipment has been sourced in the states; the locals as you know need next to nothing, and laugh when they see my camping rig unrolled. Due to lack of demand by the population sourcing high end, specialized camping equipment locally is quite challenging. There is a gent in Chiang Khong that puts together a hammock that converts into a tent and is halfway decent. However it’s much too bulky and heavy for my needs. Carrefour has a camping section where SilNylon tarps can be found along with poor quality synthetic sleeping bags and camping pads.

    Enjoy your camping.

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