GETTING DRUNK IN BANGKOK LEADS TO DARES
Taking a holiday from the 9 to 5 grind is most welcome by all of us, although there are some who feel that working is what life is all about.

Anyway, for those of us that are sane, taking a holiday to an exotic place is a recurring daydream.

Bangkok, Thailand is one such place that invites the curiosity seeker to get a look at what a Third-World country has to offer.

Sure, there's a warm climate to bask in and plenty of young partners to go around, but there are pub, after bar, after watering hole to get a buzz, ripped, or drunk in.

A compotation is common on a warm evening, a drinking bout, a who can drink the most competition... and after the drinkers have drunk so to speak... what's next?

Out of the mouths of the holiday visitors come the dares.

Looking around to find something worth a dare, the eyes eventually go toward the insect and bug vendors.

Push carts with bicycle wheels and equipped with battery operated lights, vendors sell fried insects and other multi-legged critters.

The tourists love to take pictures of the assortment of fried insects.

The vendors know this and usually have a sign displayed that reads, "Photos 20 Baht."

That's about 60 cents U.S., or so.

The drinkers just seem to hone in on the bug vendors and dare each other as to how many and of which variety insect they can eat.

To the people of Thailand, especially those from outside of the city, who come to Bangkok to work, these are common munchies.

The locals eat them the way you and I would devour a bag of potato chips.

To the tourist or holiday partier, they're the perfect dare item.

I've witnessed many a "tough" guy heave chunks after a first bite into a fried grasshopper or beetle.

Others, with almost a dead look on their face, chew quickly and swallow even quicker to prove their superiority over their drinking mates.

If you do find yourself in such a drinking and daring competition, know this;

Thailand's Medical Science Department has reported that their laboratory tests have shown that many of the fried insects contain high levels of histamines.

People with allergies can die from eating these fried insects.

It would be an embarrassing wake question, wouldn't you think;

"How did he die?"

"Oh, he got drunk and ate some fried grasshoppers and keeled over."

The histamine contamination can cause stomach aches, skin inflammation, asthma, headaches, vomiting, and as you were just informed, death.

Leave the insects to the birds and geckos, but do visit Bangkok, it will change your view of the world, forever.