Jochen Gartz - Magic Mushrooms Around the ... - preterhuman.net

German Tourist Boom
On Koh Samui and Koh Pha-ngan, the
mushroom dishes are enjoyed primarily by
German tourists. Along with a few other
foreigners, some Thai teenagers use the
mushrooms as well, sometimes even attempting
to smoke them in a bamboo pipe. As a salt-like
chemical compound, psilocybin requires
temperatures of about 200°C for it to melt and
partially break down without sublimation, so that
a tobacco pipe will not be effective in achieving
the desired psychoactive effects.
During the fall of 1988, Thai authorities
distributed warning leaflets at tourist centers,
providing a detailed description of a bizarre panic
reaction experienced by an Australian tourist,
who was hospitalized briefly as a result. Allen
thoroughly analyzed this event by seeking
additional information about the circumstances of
this case, including interviews with all other
individuals involved. Allen discovered that the
Australian visitor had used excessive amounts of
various pharmaceuticals, including highly
addictive substances, which is why he eventually
required hospitalization.
Finally, in January 1989, this incident
was central to justifying passage of a law that
prohibits usage of psychoactive mushrooms
("hed keequai" in local language), with harsh
penalties provided for non-compliance. Until that
time, many restaurants posted signs advertising
the various types of mushroom dishes on their
menus. But mushroom usage continued despite
passage of the law. Specific species still being
used were identified as Psilocybe cubensis,
Psilocybe subcubensis and Panaeolus
cyanescens. It is unknown if a tourist in Thailand
has ever been sentenced for usage or possession
of mushrooms. In addition to the collection of
fruiting bodies growing naturally on buffalo
dung, Thai as well as German residents on Koh
Samui and Koh Pha-ngan began to cultivate the
mushrooms, outdoors and inside houses. In
accordance with the "natural cultivation"
approach, rice debris was added to fresh manure
and mixed with dung already permeated by
mycelia. After prohibition, mushroom cultivation
continued at hard-to-reach wilderness locations.
Moreover, Allen found evidence that
some restaurants temporarily served dishes made
from regular table mushrooms apparently spiked
with a synthetic hallucinogen (LSD) whose
effects lasted much longer than those of
psilocybin. This dangerous practice caused
unexpected reactions with effects lasting for up to
10 hours. Some consumers experienced
dysphoric side effects which persisted for as long
as several days. One individual developed an
aversion against all kinds of mushroom dishes for
several months.
As in Mexico during the sixties, a large
variety of mushroom images and products are
marketed commercially in Thailand these days.
Among merchandise offered for sale there are
hand-painted and mass-produced T-Shirts (see
Figure 56, p. 78) with pictures of Panaeolus
cyanescens and Psilocybe subcubensis, shown
together as well as separately, not to mention
postcards, posters, lighters and key rings, all
featuring mushroom-motif decorations. Allen
reported that such goods are available in both
Northern and Southern Thailand.
In coming years, we can well expect a
wealth of new discoveries and insights into the
ethnopharmacology, taxonomy and natural
chemistry of Asia's mycoflora.
Not surprisingly, another new mushroom
species was discovered in Thailand in August,
1991 and named Psilocybe samuiensis Guzman,
Bandala & Allen (see Figure 60, p. 99). The
species is similar in appearance to Psilocybe
semilanceata, but the fruiting bodies do not
contain baeocystin. Psilocybe samuiensis is a
bluing species that grows on fertilized soil, but
not directly on top of dung. We successfully
cultivated this species on a mixture of rye, horse
dung and water (2:1:2), but found that we needed
to add a casing layer consisting of peat and chalk
(2:1).