Thailand Epipen (Epinephrine) Auto Injector Availability
BUYING EPIPEN (Epinephrine) with Auto-Injector in Thailand (How To and Where To)
If you are allergic to bees, wasps, snake venom, or any other venom or foods like peanuts, tomatoes or anything – you should consider having an EpiPen (Epinephrine syringe) with you while you visit or live in Thailand.
If you do not bring an EpiPen to Thailand, you can obtain one while here, but it may take some time to order it. Not many pharmacies carry it in stock. You can always go to the hospital and request a doctor to give you a prescription for it and pick one up at the hospital dispensary.
Though I’m very careful as I walk through Thailand’s forests, there is always the possibility of being bitten or stung by a venomous reptile, arachnid, bee or wasp that sends me or someone I’m with into anaphylaxis – and requiring the immediate use of an EpiPen.
The EpiPen is an auto-injector that is full of epinephrine, used to stem the symptoms of anaphylaxis, and its use can save lives.
Here is a great page with a video about exactly how to use the Epipen and Epipen JR. [click]
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the availability of Epipens / Emergency Epinephrine shots in Thailand. Or, keep reading to find out why I needed one.
In 2006 I think it was, I ate a deep-fried black scorpion of the species – from a local Thai market in Sisaket. I had also eaten a number of fried insects that day, but the scorpion was the final act so to speak. I was recording it all on video for my YouTube channel.
I didn’t expect to stay overnight in the Sisaket public hospital with symptoms of anaphylaxis.
I went running at a park in Sisaket right after I ate the big scorpion. I didn’t know anything about what part of the scorpion was consumed by Thais, so I ate just about everything but the claws and the giant shell. I also pinched off the venom pincer on the tail. I figured I was safe because many people eat fried scorpions in Thailand. It’s a delicacy to some.
So, as I’m running I notice a few things:
- I’m sweating far too much for the short distance I’ve done.
- My legs and chest are insanely itchy.
- My breathing is starting to get bad. I have a slight touch of asthma, that hasn’t bothered me in Thailand at all – but my breathing ability was rapidly deteriorating.
- My mind was getting cloudy. Like I couldn’t think straight.
It was at this point that I realized I had a serious problem. I had some of the same symptoms after being stung by a box jellyfish in Maui a couple of years before.
I stopped running and started walking calmly but swiftly to my motorbike a couple of hundred meters away. I drove quickly to the apartment my girlfriend (now wife) and I were staying and told her to quickly get me to the emergency room.
She did, and they gave me some antihistamines and an epinephrine shot. I calmed down and my breathing ability slowly came back. At the worst, I think I was around 10% of my breathing capacity. I thought there was a good chance I was going to die from anaphylaxis.
But in the morning I was feeling pretty good. I was released around 1000 hours and felt OK from there forward.
Epipen-Essential Videos Below
WHAT HAPPENED?
Probably eating so much shell from the scorpion was too much and I had some allergy to it. The venom in the scorpion was surely neutralized after spending 5 minutes in 400+ degree cooking oil. The shell got me.
So, it pays to know where you can get an Epipen / Epinephrine shot to carry around with you if you are allergic to food, bees, wasps, scorpions, snake venom, or any biting or stinging thing in Thailand. Get one anyway because you probably have no idea if you’re allergic to every snake and scorpion in the country.
I found Epipens and similar copycat injectors at large pharmacies in our small town. I think they are fairly common. One way to get it would be to get a doctor’s appointment and then tell them you have an allergy to bees and they can write you a prescription for an epinephrine dose you can fill at one of the pharmacies in your town.
I have also ordered them through pharmacies that obtained them from Bangkok.
If you plan on bringing your Epipen to Thailand, ensure you bring the prescription from the doctor too. Much better to be safe and bring it.
Video – Me Eating the Scorpion
Video – Me In Hospital in Sisaket
I thought I was making a lot of sense, but I was still a bit out of my mind:
Hi there, I’ve lost my epipen in Thailand (did only bring one) currently in koh pagnan and after visiting 2 hospitals and 2 pharmacies it became clear too me that they just don’t have it.
One pharmacy advised me too let them make it. I went to first western hospital in Koh pagnan and although the doctor fully understanded it said she could not make it because it is against the hospital policy (If you take too much you can die anyway)
Where in Thailand did you brought the epipen?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Patrick
Hi Patrick,
You can order the Epipens from a pharmacy. They order from Bangkok somewhere, and they cost around 4,000 THB for the larger sized (adult) injector.
Go to any pharmacy and tell them exactly what you want and tell them to order it. Takes 3-5 days at my local pharmacy.
Cheers!
Alright thank you man! Going to try that out tomorrow. Thanks for the fast reply. Will keep you updated:-)
Sure, good luck!
Been around the Island too almost every pharmacy not able to get an epipen. However the last hospital I tried (Phangan international hospital) could order them from Koh Samui. Which I did. Was quite expensive (8650 baht) but I think insurance got it covered. Was this expensive because I’ve got one from a Hospital instead of a Pharmacy. Anyway I got one thanks for the info bro and keep up the keep work, seems like a nice site;-)
Wow, 8,600 THB for an EpiPen… I can get them here at just over 3,000 THB. Sounds like someone’s making some cash over there! Anyway, if you need it, you need it. Glad you found one.
Hey I am stuck in phuket and absolutley no pharmacy or hospital will give me an epi oen. I used my last one yesterday in Phi Phi and am going home tomorrow arvo but need one for the flight incase they serve fish…do you know of any where!?
Thank you so much!
Elisha
I’m not sure what exactly you’re saying, or what the problem is. You used an Epipen yesterday to save your life because you had an allergic reaction to something on Koh Phi Phi? Now, you want to get another because you fear they MIGHT serve fish on your flight – and you don’t know how to stop yourself from eating fish?
Great information. Thanks for sharing.
Hi vern where do you get the epipen for 3000 baht i live in phuket and need one ASP.
Your help would be much needed THANKS
You can order them from a pharmacy. Ask at a bunch, eventually someone will order one for you.
I was stung by a hornet in my banana trees. The 4 the time I got stung. 1/2 hour later I am unconscious on the kitchen floor, with anaphylactic shock, unable to move. I thought I would build immunity from the previous stings. I had it backwards it only gets worse. My quest for a EpiPen has begun. I will not survive the next sting.
Order them at the pharmacy. They are expensive, but you can get one from some pharmacy in your city. Choose the biggest one. Good luck!
Hello, do you know where I can buy Epipen 0.30 mgr. Thank you
Go to some of the big pharmacies in your city or a nearby big city. They can order for you.