Staying the Course (For Now)
r/CannabisThailand Newsletter - Issue #100
Sawadee Everyone,
Ung-Ing seems to have spent most of this week getting her cabinet in order but we now have a functioning government. Of course, I use with word “functioning” rather loosely in that description.
While some seemingly unimportant (to cannabis users) jobs got swapped around it appears that the biggest change here was booting Palang Pracharath Party in exchange for the Democrat Party.
I have to say, as someone that lived in the Ratchaprasong District during the 2010 Red Shirt Protests and having watched military and police battle with Red Shirt protesters literally in front of my condo, it is a little surprising to see Thaksin and Democrats on the same side of the aisle.
In terms of what this means for cannabis, the Democrats were part of the reason the cannabis bill got shot down last time it was up for consideration but I’m not sure they’ll make a stink this time around.
I was a little confused about how this was reported but I do believe both Anutin and Ung-Ing have separately said that the cannabis policy will continue under the agreement made by Anutin with former prime minister Srettha. That means that Anutin will be allowed to present a bill to be considered by parliament.
It would be foolish for the Democrats, with so little power, to try to make a stink in a coalition that they could be easily kicked out of. Last time around their rejection of the cannabis bill was seen as a way to hurt Bhumjaithai going into the elections, not necessarily a burning hatred of weed (they actually supported the bill in a previous reading).
Keep in mind that many Pheu Thai voters are the very same people that were once in front of my condo in 2010 and back then they wanted Abhisit’s (and the entire Democrat Party) head on a platter. I still remember Abhisit’s face printed on flip flops and signs saying “Abhisit is a murderer.” In other words, it doesn’t seem wise for the Democrats to cause too much friction otherwise many former red shirts might start demanding that Pheu Thai get rid of them.
Likewise, many Democrat Party voters and many Democrat MPs aren’t exactly thrilled with the party teaming up with their old enemy, Thaksin. The party was already in turmoil before this announcement and this certainly won’t be helping things. Several prominent party members have either resigned or voiced their concerns in public.
Speaking of voter demands, as we discussed in previous newsletters, Pheu Thai appears to be using Srettha’s ousting as a giant reset button. They’ve already announced that they’re reworking the digital wallet scheme, household debt, and several other big initiatives.
Basically they’re not publicly throwing Srettha under the bus (yet) but they’re using the reset as an excuse to reprioritize and reconfigure.
Oh wait, have we talked about PPRP (Palang Pracharath Party), the party that got the boot? Analysts believe that Prawit was the one stirring up trouble for Pheu Thai and may have been the one behind Srettha’s charges that saw him lose the PM position.
He and his borrowed collection of exotic timepieces are definitely not going anywhere and he’s no longer going to be hiding in the shadows when he takes his shots at Thaksin.
And that means that the axe still swings over Pheu Thai’s head. Already we have the usual serial complainers filing complaints that Pheu Thai is influenced by Thaksin and that charge will hang over the party’s head as long as Thaksin still breathes. In other words, Pheu Thai could be dissolved as a party at any moment should Thaksin decide to step on the wrong toes.
So, as always, what does this mean for cannabis?
At the moment, it appears that Pheu Thai will allow Anutin and BJT to write a cannabis bill.
As I mentioned back when a lot of this first began, the best option for Pheu Thai or Move Forward once they gained power was to pass a weak cannabis bill, declare victory over recreational use, and let the issue die.
That seems to be the path that Pheu Thai is taking.
Anutin has been talking about strict medicinal use only, but technically, all cannabis use in Thailand has been medicinal since 2022. In other words, don’t read too much into it.
Thailand is simply not ready to embrace the word “recreational” yet. Thai voters strongly support medicinal use and strongly oppose recreational use so any new bill will call itself medicinal regardless of how strict or lenient it is.
Like many words, it’s one that gets somewhat lost in translation between English and Thai. Many westerners have a specific image in their head of what medicinal means because that is how medicinal has been defined where they’re from. But Thailand will define medicinal however it wants and it doesn’t have to resemble western medicinal use at all.
We still don’t know what any of that looks like though so, as usual, we’ll have to wait until Anutin’s bill makes it into the public.
Stay lifted and enlightened,
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