BANGKOK – Months after Thailand became the first Asian country to decriminalise cannabis, weed-related businesses are already changing its cityscapes.
“This is just about politics now. The government has come this far, but then the coalition parties now want to go back,” said Mr Rattapon Sanrak, founder of a cannabis advocacy group that runs Highland Cafe, a dispensary in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao area. “Criminalising it again would just force everything back underground, and entrepreneurs who want to do it right wouldn’t be able to.”
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 decriminalisation with the help of civil society groups.
Cannabis supporters argue that decriminalisation has thrown a lifeline to cities devastated by Covid-19 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.
“It’s the reason why I came to Thailand. I’d wanted to come earlier, but I wasn’t going until weed was legalised,” said George, adding that he used cannabis to cope with chronic back pain. “If I can’t smoke weed somewhere, I don’t go spend thousands of dollars.”Some 14km away on a busy street in the commercial Sukhumvit area, Mr Soranut Masayavanich, owner of dispensary Sukhumweed, explained how cannabis revived the fortunes of his business and even that of the local community.
Restaurant owner Chainat Rodsukho, whose cooked-to-order rice shop sits near Sukhumweed, said the dispensary has livened up the neighbourhood after many local businesses suffered during Covid-19.