The Shifting Sands of Cannabis Policy in Thailand
r/CannabisThailand Newsletter - Issue #94
Sawadee Everyone,
As you might imagine, the big news in cannabis this week has been the PM Srettha demand that all weed shops be closed by April 2025 and the threat that any foreigners involved in owning cannabis businesses be arrested.
To some, it sounds like Anutin, the architect of legalizing cannabis, has capitulated. Although he’s claimed that he was double-crossed over the cannabis issue he seemed rather tepid on what recourse Bhumjaithai has.
The important thing to keep in mind at the moment is that this is just the orders of Srettha and have no legal authority outside of arresting foreigners who have used nominee companies to control cannabis related businesses, which was illegal regardless of cannabis being involved or not.
Remember Srettha has been pounding his fist about the 10,000 baht wallet scheme since Pheu Thai came to power and he’s still no closer to achieving that than he is to banning recreational cannabis which he said would happen before the end of 2023, then Jan 2024, then by Feb of 2024 . . . you get the picture.
What has me more concerned is the seemingly reckless nature of this government and the increasingly negative rhetoric.
Pheu Thai has gone from proposing curbing recreational use to curbing recreational use and no existing businesses will be harmed, to shut down everything and re-list cannabis as a narcotic regardless of how it impacts cannabis businesses.
Usually one starts with the most extreme demand and then negotiates to a middle-ground. Here Pheu Thai seems to have started from what seemed like a workable compromise and has transitioned to a position that will be unacceptable to those impacted by the changes.
There are already protests scheduled to take place in front of Government House by Thai cannabis activist groups and many have already begun considering filing class action lawsuits against the government to compensate them for losses.
There has also been a noticeable shift in the media coverage with many news outlets questioning the logic of Srettha’s anti-cannabis extremism. While many Thais seem to not want recreational use to be legal, Srettha’s scorched earth rhetoric seems to be making people realize that fellow Thais could have their lives ruined, which isn’t something they support.
But, again, the important thing to remember is that politics is a long game. We haven’t seen how Anutin and Bhumjaithai plan to respond. We have not seen the full brunt of the cannabis community’s efforts to raise awareness about the damage that Srettha wants to unleash. And, we have the new Minister of Public Health, Somsak, who seems to enjoy a good relationship with Anutin and, even after Srettah’s demands, seems open to listening to all sides before drafting any laws.
Last but not least, we have Pheu Thai itself which seems to be hellbent on losing popularity and making themselves look foolish. For instance this week also saw Pheu Thai try to convince people that the Yingluck rice that has been sitting in storage for 10 years is still fit for human consumption only to be ridiculed across Thai media.
Also not doing Pheu Thai any favors was Thaksin traveling to the Myanmar border trying to do some sort of peace deal between warring factions. According to the media he was only granted a meeting with lower level rebel leaders and was denied an audience with the Myanmar military. Ouch.
This could end up with egg all over the face of Srettha no matter how popular or unpopular the cannabis policy may be with Thai people because there are no good solutions other than to regulate it. The Thai media has also been saying this in a range of publications which have pointed out that most of the problems currently associated with cannabis are due to a lack of regulations, regulations that Pheu Thai helped block.
So, rather than panic, I think we should wait to see what we start hearing from Minister of Public Health Somsak. We don’t know everything going on behind the scenes quite yet. I expect that to start playing out of the coming weeks. Stay lifted and enlightened,
Don’t forget that we’ve partnered with some dispensaries for exclusive deals available to members of this newsletter and the r/CannabisThailand sub on Reddit. Just type “Dank Deal” into the comments of any post and the AutoMod will send you the current discounts being offered.
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