Friday, November 25, 2022
Months after Thailand became the first Asian country to decriminalize cannabis, weed-related businesses are already changing its cityscapes.
Neon-lit signs with cannabis leaves are now a common sight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, and the drug is seeping into everything from food to drinks and cosmetics, bolstered by the promise of revenue from weed tourism.
Despite its rapid growth, Thailand’s cannabis industry is in fact walking a political tightrope.
Businesses currently operate in a gray area due to a regulatory vacuum whereby the drug was decriminalized before lawmakers could agree on how to regulate the industry.
Growing societal concerns about the impact of legalization also threaten to set back an industry that is estimated to be worth over $1 billion by 2025.
Lawmakers are expected to resume debate on a draft cannabis bill that was designed to give the government more control over the industry as early as next week.
The bill stalled after several legislators voted to withdraw it from debate in September, arguing that it didn’t go far enough in banning recreational use.
The government has repeatedly said since June that decriminalization was aimed at medical and commercial use for marijuana rather than recreational purposes — though the draft bill didn’t directly outlaw recreational smoking, it said lighting up in public will be prohibited.
Other restrictions include bans on causing unpleasant smells in public, selling to pregnant women or people under 20 and commercial advertising.
The legal uncertainties leave cannabis users and entrepreneurs concerned that they face an uphill battle against politicians who hope to undo decriminalization with the help of civil society groups.
Many academics and medical doctors have called for cannabis to be designated as a narcotic again, and this week, a network of students, parents and teachers added to the calls with a petition bearing more than 15,000 signatures.
A deadly shooting at a preschool in October by a former cop with drug links is also stoking calls for a clampdown on drugs and guns.
Although most Thais do not link the shooting with cannabis policies, the main opposition Pheu Thai party has seized the chance toughen its anti-drug rhetoric ahead of an election to be called by March.
Cannabis supporters argue that decriminalization has thrown a lifeline to cities devastated by Covid restrictions that have ravaged Thailand’s tourism-dependent economy.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand itself has marketed cannabis as a travel experience, launching a series of guidebooks to promote areas where tourists can visit organic cannabis farms and get cannabis oil massages.
More than 1 million people have already been issued licenses to grow cannabis via the government’s mobile phone application since June 9, according to data from the Public Health Ministry.
The boon for tourism is easy to see. On Bangkok’s Khaosan Road, a haven for backpackers, a “cannabis complex” now houses more than a dozen dispensaries where visitors can shop for not only buds but also edibles, tea bags, massage oils and handmade bongs.
Thailand is already big on tourism, and cannabis helps add value to all other businesses, said Worawut Ngamthanawit, co-owner of one of the shops in the Plantopia Weed City complex.
The small dispensary has seen no lack of customers since opening in September, Worawut said, as tourists wander Khaosan Road in search of the next exotic Thai strain to try.
Cannabis has helped get people back on their feet. Money is flooding into the country. They haven’t seen Thailand this energized in a long time, Soranut said.
All the restaurants around here are doing well. The community is thriving because of the rush we’ve brought here.
Restaurant owner Chainat Rodsukho, whose cooked-to-order rice shop sits near Sukhumweed, said that the dispensary has livened up the neighborhood after many local businesses suffered during Covid.
Sukhumweed, which sources all its cannabis from local growers, carries a lip balm infused with hemp oil that shows on its packaging a cartoon drawing of Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul; a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the man who spearheaded cannabis liberalization as part of his Bhumjaithai party’s campaign promises during the 2019 general election.
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