A day in the life at this White Lotus-like detox resort in Thailand offering treatment for crypto-trading addicts

In the first episode of season three of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” the Ratliff family is taken aback when they arrive at the eponymous luxury resort only to find out its clients usually come to detox from the outside world and engage in therapy and a variety of wellness treatments.

“We just want to have a good time,” the family’s father, Timothy, tells a staff member.

The Diamond Rehab Thailand, a luxury resort in the beach town of Hua Hin, probably elicits few such surprises. While similar to the fictional White Lotus hotel in that it offers a relaxing setting for clients looking to get away from the outside world, it’s also explicitly a rehab center for those facing a number of problems like substance and gambling addictions or mental health issues.

Craig Bilton, the clinical director at the rehab center, said that one increasingly common disorder his clients face is addiction to trading cryptocurrencies.

“There has been a definite increase, I want to say, since the pandemic,” Bilton said. “It’s not a problem for everyone, but at least 1% of people that trade crypto are going to have significant problems.”

Most crypto-related clients have symptoms that heavily resemble a gambling addiction, Bilton said, and clients are put through intensive treatment to help them recover.

Here’s what the experience is like at the resort.

One of the 12 bungalows on site. 

The resort has 12 private bungalows and requires a one-month minimum stay.

While each client’s structured day might differ depending on their needs, Bilton said they typically start around 6:30 a.m. with an activity like hiking or yoga and end mid-afternoon.

A therapy room. 

After their morning activity, clients have breakfast and start individual therapy sessions at 9 a.m. They then do group educational sessions for a couple of hours starting at 10 a.m. After lunch, Bilton said they have another group session from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

“We focus a lot on developing emotional intelligence or emotional quotient, mindfulness, meditation in order to restabilize the dopamine circuitry,” Bilton said of the treatment. “Cognitive behavioral therapy, which is understanding between your thoughts and emotions, your emotions and your behavior, and your behavior and your thoughts or beliefs.”

“And then there’s often a lot of damage control that needs to be done,” he continued, “whether it be relational therapy because the husband spent all the savings, and now we need to start working on saving a relationship and just getting the clients back to a place where they feel that they have personal agency over their lives again.”

The pool at The Diamond.

Afterward, clients are given time to relax. During their free time, guests can take advantage of the property’s pool, for example.

For most clients, Bilton said the use of electronics is allowed outside treatment hours.

“I always say my approach is I’m going to treat my clients like adults, so I don’t take their phones, laptops,” Bilton said.

For clients with problems like a crypto-trading addiction specifically, that approach might change. One solution the resort offers is software that blocks the use of trading apps, Bilton said.

The dining room and pool table.

A pool table and lounge area are also available.

The resort also has a gym and a spa. Massages are offered on Sundays.

“They can enjoy the sauna, cold plunge, steam rooms, massages,” Bilton said. “There’s quite a lot that the clients can make use of outside of program time.”

A nearby beach.

On the weekends, Hilton said clients can do excursions like visiting nearby national parks, beaches, golf courses, wildlife reserves, and more.

“Because the program is quite therapeutically intense, on a Saturday, clients can go out on excursions just to experience a little bit of Thailand,” Bilton said. “We just make sure that it’s supervised and accountable.”

The Diamond’s staff.

The resort has a team of psychologists, nurses, managers, support workers, a yoga instructor, and chefs.