Record Cocaine-Driven Treatment Demand in Ireland Fuels Interest in Discreet Rehab Abroad

Ireland, United Kingdom Aug 4, 2026 (Issuewire.com) Ireland’s addiction treatment services logged their highest demand on record in 2024, according to the Health Research Board’s National Drug Treatment Reporting System, with 13,295 cases treated for problem drug use, a figure up 191 on the previous year and up 50% since the National Drugs Strategy began in 2017. Cocaine was the primary drug involved in 40% of those cases, the largest share of any substance, while a separate HRB bulletin recorded 8,745 cases treated for problem alcohol use in 2024, a 7% rise on 2023.

Against that backdrop, Siam Rehab, a licensed private residential treatment facility in Chiang Rai, Thailand, is seeing a rising number of enquiries from clients based in Ireland, many of whom cite discretion as a deciding factor in looking beyond domestic or UK-based options. In a country of Ireland’s size, where local recovery communities and treatment services are often well known within a town or county, some clients and families prefer a setting with geographic distance from home before committing to residential care.

Siam Rehab operates as a non-12-step residential programme built around cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing, dialectical behaviour therapy, and individualised treatment planning rather than a fixed group-step curriculum. The facility deliberately limits capacity to a maximum of 18 clients at any time, a structural choice that shapes its staff-to-client ratio of approximately 1:1.3 and counsellor-to-client ratio of approximately 1:4-5.

“Distance from home is sometimes treated as a drawback, but for a number of the Irish clients we speak with, it’s the opposite,” said Roy Faessen, Director (Europe) at Siam Rehab. “Being somewhere unfamiliar, without running into people they know, lets them focus on treatment without managing who might find out.”

The rise in cocaine-related treatment demand in Ireland also reflects a broader shift noted by the HRB: cocaine now accounts for a growing share of cases among people returning to treatment, not only those entering for the first time, pointing to sustained rather than short-term use patterns. Facilities equipped to manage polydrug presentations, including cocaine alongside alcohol or other substances, are an increasing point of enquiry for Irish clients researching options. The HRB data also shows treatment demand rising across every region of the country and across age groups, employment status, and family circumstances, indicating a pattern not confined to any single community or background.

Clinical care at Siam Rehab includes psychiatric oversight through an on-site clinic seven days a week, individualised therapy planning across the resident’s stay, and a structured continuing-care process. Before discharge, each client works with their primary counsellor to prepare a written aftercare plan, which may include relapse-prevention strategies, medication and psychiatric follow-up recommendations, telehealth scheduling, and referrals to support resources in the client’s home country. Siam Rehab has operated in Chiang Rai for more than a decade.

For clients in Ireland, the process begins with an initial assessment call to determine clinical suitability for residential treatment. Because capacity constraints are rarely the limiting factor on the facility’s side, admission can typically follow soon after assessment, without a waiting list.

Siam Rehab’s clinical team includes on-site counsellors, a licensed clinical psychologist, and an external psychiatrist providing weekly on-site clinic hours and telehealth availability, supported by an external network of medical advisors for specialist and complex cases, including advisors based in Europe who assist with intake coordination for clients from Ireland and elsewhere on the continent.

About Siam Rehab
Siam Rehab is a licensed private residential addiction treatment facility located in Chiang Rai, Thailand, operating under Can Siam Co., Ltd. The facility is jointly accredited by Thailand’s Healthcare Accreditation Institute (HAI) and the National Institute for Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation (NISAD), Department of Medical Services, for the period 20 May 2026 to 19 May 2029. Siam Rehab has operated since 2014 and maintains a European office in the Netherlands supporting clients across Ireland, the UK, and continental Europe.