Where to get PEP in Southeast Asia

Do you know where to get PEP in Southeast Asia? If you plan on having sex with a lot of women in the region, maybe you should. This stuff could literally turn out to be a lifesaver. I haven’t had to use it yet. But I have done the research just in case I ever do.

PEP stands for post exposure prophylaxis. It’s a medicine you take after possible exposure to the HIV virus. If you take it every day for a month, it seriously reduces your risk of getting HIV. As it turns out the Truvada medicine used in the PEP mix can also help prevent HIV infection to begin with.

A lot of gay guys now take Truvada as a form of PrEP. That’s pre exposure prophylaxis. According to some studies, it could reduce the rate of HIV transmission through same-sex anal by up to 99 percent. The theory is that it works just as well for heterosexual sex too. Though I’m still waiting to see a full study on that.

Where to get PEP in Southeast Asia

In most of Southeast Asia you can walk right to up to pharmacies and order medicines without a prescription. There are limits in places though. For example most pharmacies in Thailand won’t sell you Cialis, Viagra, or Levitra over the counter. There are places that will, but they are harder to find.

Cambodia is still pretty much the Wild West when it comes to medicine. I’ve seen people walk up to a pharmacy and buy a fistful of Valium before. Any pharmacy that has ED medicine will sell it to you too. All you have to do is ask.

PrEP is sort of similar. You can walk up to any pharmacy that sells it in Phnom Penh and request it by name. They will sell you Truvada by the bottle. But they only have one of the recommended pills. The other pill usually assigned along with it is not yet available in the country. One pill is better than none, I guess. But it’s not the total package you would get if you were in New Zealand or America.

In Thailand, they do have the total PEP package. But you probably won’t find a pharmacy to sell it to you. Instead, you’ll have to go to a doctor, hospital or clinic. Some doctors are much more familiar with this stuff than others. And prices can be either reasonable or somewhat high. For example, Pattaya City Hospital will be cheaper than Pattaya Bangkok Hospital. And Bumrungrad in Bangkok will probably be most expensive of all.

A word to the wise

As with any medicine, the best thing to do is talk to a doctor. They go to school and study all the effects. They will want to give you an HIV test before prescribing PrEP for example. Because if you have HIV and take Truvada alone, it can make your disease harder to treat later on. At least that’s what the material online says.

I’ve told you before and I will say it again. I am not necessarily an expert in anything. I am just a guy who went on the road and ended up banging lots of hot chicks in Southeast Asia. I have picked up some information along the way. But you shouldn’t take my word over that of a trained professional. Never forget what it says down in the footer.

And don’t think things will be as easy in other parts of Southeast Asia as they are in Cambodia and Thailand. No one I talked to in Vietnam even knows what PrEP or Truvada are yet. And I definitely wouldn’t expect to find widespread use of the stuff down in Malaysia or Indonesia. For a lot of visitors to the region, the best treatment available to them will be back in their home countries. These are all things to keep in mind.