As Thailand does U-turn on legal cannabis, businesses scramble to survive
As Thailand does U-turn on legal cannabis, businesses scramble to survive
Government says decriminalisation fueled social ills, but producers argue new rules will only push industry underground.
Author: Zsombor Peter
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Published on: 02/07/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
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Wonderland cannabis shop is a pulsating mecca of this megacity’s seamy nightlife scene. It is Saturday afternoon, and business should be good, but it is not. Just days earlier, Thailand’s government imposed new rules sharply curbing the sale of cannabis. All sales of cannabis buds must now be accompanied by a doctor’s prescription. Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin has also announced his intention to place the plant back on the country’s Somsak said the new rules would help contain Thailand’s cannabis industry to the medical market. Since a new administration took over in 2023, the government blamed decriminalisation for a wave of problems. A survey found that three in four Thais strongly or moderately agreed with putting cannabis back on the narcotics list. Many farmers and shop owners say the blowback from legalising cannabis has been exaggerated. Chokwan Chopaka opened a dispensary along Bangkok’s bustling Sukhumvit Boulevard soon after Thailand legalised cannabis. She said she had to shutter her shop because she could no longer follow those rules and compete with other dispensaries in the neighbourhood that were getting away with breaking them. Chopakan expects that most dispensaires will end up closing if the new rules are enforced diligently, many of them before recouping the investments they made to get up and running. Thai government said in May that the national economy may grow by as little as 1.3 percent this year, dragged down in part by slumping tourist arrivals. The government blamed the freewheeling cannabis scene of the past three years for putting some tourists off Thailand. Rattapon Sanrak, a cannabis farmer and shop owner, is crunching the numbers on the new regulations as well. Vara said he would apply for the certificate nonetheless and was confident the quality of his buds would help his farm survive even in a smaller, medical-cannabis-only marketplace. Rattapon and others believe the government could have avoided the latest policy whiplash by passing a comprehensive cannabis control bill either before decriminalisation or soon after. Proponents of such a bill say it could have set different rules for farms based on their size, helping smaller growers stay in business, and better regulations to help head off the problems the government is complaining about now. The Writing Thailand’s Cannabis Future Network plans to hold a protest in front of the Ministry of Public Health. Faris said many of the shops and farms that rely on the recreational market will close under the new rules. "But as time goes by," he added, "people will find a way"
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