TARA Detox (Thamkrabok Assistance & Recovery Advice) provides information and services to addicts considering detoxification and rehabilitation treatment at Thamkrabok Monastery, Thailand.

We are a specialist agency offering alternative detoxification programs based on Buddhist precepts and principles as motivators for change; and promoting the Thamkrabok Monastery’s concept and practice of Sajja as a tool for relapse prevention. The program does not embrace any western model of addiction and so may be considered as unorthodox by some.

• The program requires TOTAL ABSTINENCE i.e. "To undertake to refrain from taking intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness".
• The programs can be tailored to individual needs.
• The programs includes mindfulness meditation practices.

TARA Detox programs are designed to tackle ALL addictions, from a Buddhist perspective, irrespective of the substance involved.

These programs prepare and support clients before, during and after a rapid herbal detoxification at the Thamkrabok Monastery in Thailand.

About Us

Vince Cullen became interested in Buddhism after starting his own recovery from alcohol dependency.

He first visited the Thamkrabok Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre in 1998, in his then role as Chairman of the UK charity East-West Detox.

Vince left East-West Detox in November 2002 to pursue a more personal relationship with the Thamkrabok Monastery and indeed with Buddhism.

In 2003, Vince ordained for a brief period as a monk working directly with addicts in ‘The Hey’ - the addicts treatment compound - at Thamkrabok. 

Since then he has facilitated treatment at Thamkrabok for many addicts who make their own journey to Thailand. 

He has also escorted and supported addicts, as part of organised programmes, to Thamkrabok.

Vince is authorised by the Abbot of Thamkrabok to take addicts to the monastery for detoxification treatment.

In 2006, Vince again ordained; joining the monks and nuns of Thamkrabok Monastery on the annual Tudong.

Vince is a charter member of the Buddhist Recovery Network and represented the  Thamkrabok Monastery at the BRN inaugural conference in Los Angeles in October 2009.

Since November 2009, Vince has been facilitating a Meditation for Recovery group in West Berkshire, UK.

In 2010 TARA Detox will offer a 12-week ‘Mindful Detox - Mindful Recovery’ program that combines detoxification at Thamkrabok and a period of rehabilitation at the New Life recovery community in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand.

“We are not a charity so we cannot provide a no-cost service, but we do strive to provide a low-cost alternative.”

Virtual interview - Vince Cullen

Buddhist Recovery Network

The Buddhist Recovery Network supports the use of Buddhist teachings, traditions and practices to help people recover from the suffering caused by addictive behaviours. Open to people of all backgrounds, and respectful of all recovery paths, the organisation promotes mindfulness and meditation, and is grounded in Buddhist principles of non-harming, compassion and interdependence. It seeks to serve an international audience through teaching, training, treatment, research, publication, advocacy and community-building initiatives.

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Clean Body With Herbs... Clean Mind With Sajja