Chanasongkram Police said they will begin cracking down on Khao San Road vendors who sell balloons containing laughing gas.
Although the sale of balloons filled with nitrous oxide gas, also known as laughing gas, is illegal, vendors on the famous tourist street still sell them to tourists.
Typically tourists shell out THB100 – THB150 for each balloon.
Police found that most of the vendors had hidden the gas containers under their pushcarts. Tourists must ask the vendor to make the laughing-gas balloon for them. The vendors spend about 15 minutes to inflate each balloon. Vendors who illegally sell the balloons could face one year of jail time and a fine of THB10,000.
Tourists have been warned to not buy these balloons as the colorless and non-inflammable nitrous-oxide gas can cause severe symptoms for inhalers and some might even become unconscious if there is an overdose. Nitrous oxide is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic effects, The Nation reported.
