Cannabis in Thailand – A side note
Cannabis remains highly regulated in Thailand despite being partially decriminalised.
The excitement that there was when cannabis was to be 'legalised' turns to disappointment when a statement made public on February 8 by Minister Anutin Charnvirakul contains no indication of the once-expected progressive approach to cannabis and hemp.
Said notice on cannabis will come into force 120 days after publication in the Royal Gazette, Thailand's government gazette. And while most parts of the cannabis plant are disappearing from Category 5 of the "narcotics list," recreational use remains illegal if cannabis products contain more than 0,2 percent THC. In comparison: Dutch weed usually contains between 15 and 20 percent THC (Source: Trimbos).
Grow your own cannabis
Minister Anutin makes it clear that growing cannabis is not an illegal activity and is therefore allowed, provided that the grower has the necessary permits. There is a manual for that: https://silklegal.com/th/practice-areas/cannabis/cannabis-presentation/
A bill will be submitted to parliament, the minister said, and additional requirements may be imposed.
Hemp is a versatile product that contains significantly less THC than cannabis. Hemp is used in textiles, building materials, cosmetics, paper, food, compost and fuel. We know hemp rope that consists of hemp and flax.
Nevertheless, hemp (cannabis sativa) remains strictly regulated in Thailand alongside cannabis (cannabis indica), although both plants are removed from criminal law. But anyone who violates the existing laws can count on a strict approach. The processing of parts of these plants remains subject to a licensing system of, among others, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and/or The Office of Narcotics Control Board.
Not for farang….
No change is being announced to the rules about who can grow cannabis. The rules today are that the right is limited to Thai nationals and to companies that have majority Thai shareholders and whose management is majority Thai. In addition, a license is only issued if the plants (cannabis and hemp) are used exclusively for medical use, research, commercial or industrial use and for traditional medicines.
So the excitement of the initial thoughts about 'releasing…' is gone. Citizens and entrepreneurs are not given a free hand in using the plants. Candidates for the use of cannabis or hemp are therefore strongly advised to seek legal advice.
Cannabis in Thailand. A side note. Source: Lexology and Silk Legal. Editing and translation Erik Kuijpers.
My former home in Chiang Mai was a gathering place for my son's friends. I regularly found small plastic bags tucked away there with a brown-green grassy stuff. Is that cannabis?
Probably Tino, in the 70s you could buy the Thai stick in the Netherlands, this was Thai weed wrapped around a skewer, it was so popular that it was soon imitated.
Nederwiet was sprinkled with sugar water so that it fermented.
In the late 70s when I first went to Thailand, people still smoked a lot in the villages with a bong (bamboo pipe).
I actually applaud it, hopefully it will become more popular than using yaba, that will only cause sadness for everyone.
A blower is not a troublemaker.
I myself have stopped smoking for more than 20 years.
“Cannabis Sativa Thailandica….
0,01 times better than Coco, Indonesia, Acapulco, Colombia….”
The hemp fiber harvest probably yields more
Well, Tino, I don't understand grass pollen and I've never used 'mind-altering' substances, but look at the picture the blog boss posted. Does it look a bit like it?
Here's a clip from you tube that explains a lot about cannabis.
https://youtu.be/QYCkVjdgDqQ
Keep it healthy and benefit everyone.
You won't believe it
But mid-January last I went to the immigration office here in Ubon Ratchathani.
What is my surprise??
In front of the entrance; a very large flower box full of hemp plants, up to 60/70 cm high with the familiar scent, so no floriade plants.
Last year we received a visit from 2 local officials, in uniform. They brought us 6 small cannabis plants, 3 for me and 3 for my Thai wife, with greetings from Bumjaithai, the political club of our beloved health minister. Oops, I almost wrote 'cheating' 🙂
That same day we gave the 6 plants as a gift to a young man from the northern Thai village where we live. He was very happy with it.
Imagine that the local police in the garden of track farang, during an obviously accidental inspection, stumbles upon illegal cultivation, threatening with severe imprisonment and with their back pocket wide open to spare the farang this fate. TiT, anything is possible.
Restricting cannabis decriminalization to only Thai nationals and companies, would that be to keep things easy in the border area, for example? Where stateless people and people from across the border live. According to Thai stereotypes, the "mountain peoples" are often wrong, unreliable or criminal people. They don't like those people in Bangkok, so it's easy to get a stick behind the door...
And it is also in line with the constitution, which literally speaks of the "rights and duties of the Thai" and not the rights and duties of "the people" or "everyone who is in the country".
Missed opportunity if you ask me, with real regulation Thailand could have made an international (semi?) first. I don't care for cannabis myself, but it is a less harmful drug than alcohol or tobacco, so if we allow it why not the lighter stuff?
Only Thai nationals, which means that only the elite will do those things.
The poor Thai word doesn't get a chance anyway, and the foreigner is excluded.
A missed opportunity! A freer, more or less controlled admission could greatly reduce the use of yaah baah.
It remains a mystery to me why people keep being so difficult about this natural drug (plant) while they are almost promoting the Lao Khao. When I see the havoc this cheap Whiskey causes in the Isaan, I often wonder if these people wouldn't be much better off occasionally leaving their Lao Khao and opting for a joint.
With 3 million alcohol deaths per year, Alcohol is the most lethal drug there is.
https://www.stap.nl/nl/nieuws/laatste-nieuws.html/3454/6906/alcohol-wereldwijd-verantwoordelijk-voor-3-miljoen-doden-voornamelijk-mannen
But personally, I'm definitely not going to venture into cannabis in Thailand despite everything. Because you have laws and interpretation of laws. All too often, those 'other' drugs than alcohol are used to lure innocent people. Millions of people who got in the way of corrupt politicians are sometimes locked up for years on charges of simple possession or use.
(Duterte is a champion at that).
While all toxicologists and scientists agree on one thing. Compared to Alcohol, pure cannabis is candy.
https://www.jellinek.nl/vraag-antwoord/welke-drug-is-de-gevaarlijkste/
The message is a bit vague… (maybe a bit too much cannabis sativa content?) There are cannabis sativa varieties in circulation in the Netherlands that are also certainly going towards the 15% THC content, so to see the difference between hemp and cannabis there if it difference between sativa and indica is not correct after all. I would see the male and female plant as the difference between hemp and cannabis, since the male variety produces little or no THC.
It's time for medical cannabis to be released.
For years, cannabis has been put in the dark by the “medical drug mafia”.
It is the world's best medicine for our immunity, cures more than 30 different diseases, including Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, cancer, etc.
Soon I will leave for Thailand and I will do everything I can to get legalization in the interest of my own health. I do not want to be hindered by a Thai official.
Dear Martin Wiertz,
cannabis does indeed have many positive effects, but if you come here on holiday or want to live here for a while, it is wise not to blow so high from the tower to wash this cannabis pig and to explain to the Thai officials how it should be legalized here.
Lots of fun.
No Tino. Those were Thai tea bags.
The reason Cannabis was taken off the narcotics list was not to be able to smoke weed recreationally in Thailand.
From day 1, the intention was to offer tobacco farmers a new opportunity due to reduced tobacco consumption in the form of industrializing Thai hemp cultivation. Look at the many uses in construction, cosmetics and not to mention the car industry in Thailand. Then it is not sustainable to have a plant on a narcotics list and the 0.2% THC was only tolerated. Now things are being straightened out a bit and farmers will have plenty of opportunities to fill their land and yes then it is indeed true that the big money will determine the rules unless the farmers unite in a national or regional interest group. Something that obviously will not work because of conflicts of interest.
Agriculture is one of the professions that is exclusively for Thai or a Thai-majority company, so there is not much strange about that either.
Silk Legal's piece seems more like "The wish is father to the thought" or just looking for souls who want to ask for help.....
https://gam-legalalliance.com/services/immigration/thai-visas/thai-work-permit/prohibited-jobs-for-foreigners-in-thailand/
Dear คุณตัก, Khun Tak, you are right. But always be yourself and stand up for your rights as an inhabitant of this planet.
By the way, I already solved the problem myself and checked the legislation.
As a falang, I have no right to own plants for my own use, but my Thai partner does. And partly because of her rights, I will be free for the rest of my life from about 30 nervous disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc.
In addition, I no longer need a doctor, heal myself and have a 10 or more % discount on my health insurance policy every year.
Dear Martin,
I hope you don't have to deal with any of those diseases.
And as people have said for years: 'a joint a day, keeps the doctor away'.
You seem very sure of yourself on this one, but I suspect that if you display such an attitude in everything you will quickly get into trouble. And stating that you no longer need a doctor? Cannabis does not cure everything that a person can contract, so it is somewhat premature. But hey, good luck…