Is Thailand the New Weed Capital of the World? | Foreign Correspondent
in Thailand cannabis is out of the bag just a few months ago people risked jail for using it now this country has one of the most liberal approaches in the world cannabis or ganja as it's traditionally known here has been decriminalized and that's led to a bonanza potentially worth billions of dollars in Thailand's party hot spots cannabis has burst into the open you can literally smell it flowers leaves the whole plant you want it you can get it but uh it's been a good ride and success business is booming booming yes officially the Thai government says cannabis should only be for medical or therapeutic use and then you put under your tongue under my tongue yeah and that'll help me sleep better yes I don't want to take it now then I'm still working but the change in the law has left a gray area when it comes to recreational use and not everyone's on board we don't want to be the Academy's Heaven of the world I want to find out how Thailand got to this point and whether it's destined to become the Amsterdam of Asia [Music] [Music] in bangkok's upmarket sukumvit area Kitty chopaka is still feeling shocked that cannabis has been Unleashed oh my God I never thought in my lifetime that this would actually happen but at the same time I knew that it it has to be done he's one of scores of new so-called gundapreneurs she can now legally sell real cannabis alongside the Cannabis flavored lollies she's known for hi I'm Kitty so welcome to chopaka so what have you got here um we have Turpin gummies which um has been available since before the legalization topine gummies don't have the potent cannabis chemicals just the flavor it will give you uh like a very light effect but at the same time we now have flowers grown in Thailand and it smells like very strong absolutely wonderful because he's a cannabis smoker and a passionate advocate for what she says are the beneficial effects of ganja uh these cannabis flowers have high levels of THC that's the psychoactive chemical that gets people high but Kitty says with responsible use it's not harmful the actual first question we ask is have you used it before and then kind of really go through the process of what they want out of it how to use safely is one of the key thing and how to use responsibly [Music] the word itself is actually a Thai word we're bringing back the culture Cannabis used to grow wild in Thailand and was valued in traditional medicine before it was clamped down on with a tough narcotics act in the 1970s during the U.S led War on Drugs my great-grandmother would sell cannabis and she will cure them with honey traditional traditional but to put it out on the grounds and then sell it to Farmers on their way back from going out to the rice field for 50 years Growers dealers and users faced stiff penalties not anymore how much is that worth um let's see how much that weighs so that's about five grams so about over a little bit over 100 Australian dollars it was taken off the band narcotics List in June this year but there was no law spelling out who could use it or how draft legislation is still being debated in Parliament and Kitty's been advising on that I never thought that Thailand would let something be delisted before they put in rules for it but then again Thailand Thai politics surprised me all the time this is Thailand's Public Health Minister Anu tin Chan virakun the day after cannabis was decriminalized government-controlled medicinal cannabis had already been legal for four years but anutin put the plant back in the hands of the people literally handing it out for free [Music] he campaigned promising that people could grow and use the plant at home as medicine and Farmers would have a new cash crop and it was a winner anutin's party got the votes the people got the Cannabis we are here to make a living Make a Better Living better quality of life but day listing cannabis opened the door to people using it recreationally and unless you're under 20 pregnant or breastfeeding it's pretty much a free-for-all [Music] while the government Advocates cannabis for medicinal use I can't see many sick people when Kitty takes me down bangkok's popular nice life strip cow sound Road it's early but it's busy already huh yeah it's gonna get worse worse or better tourist hubs have roared back to life after covert and cannabis has added an extra attraction technically people can be charged with being a nuisance for smoking in public but no one seems to be complaining [Music] [Applause] and are they all licensed [Applause] those who are licensed are happy to tell us how it's going [Music] just four months ago none of this was here now it seems easier to get a joint than a pad thai what kind of effect do you want um I want a flavor I want something more on the sour side for a young industry operating in illegal gray area it's looking pretty well established [Music] and that's because before decriminalization there was a thriving underground scene here [Music] the richest part of Bangkok is on that side but there's a hood baby okay not masayawanid or B eras he's known is a licensed cannabis dispenser he opened his shop on the day the law changed here let's go to the counter somebody how come to us this Mindy green she will explain to you what we got on the Shelf she's our butt tender not a bartender a bud tender okay does it just blow your mind that you can do this all out in the open now it's like living a dream every day I have to pinch myself you know like like sometimes I used to cry driving here like [ __ ] is this real where does the weed come from uh for this uh month uh we have underground Growers who's from country nabari from Chiang mice Olive The Gardener from Concan is can Kush whoa what's up what's up special delivery so and this is thailoy from a local Farmer in the border of Laos yeah back when he was a teenager Beer's use of cannabis cost him dearly he was an actor starring in TV series and movies how famous were you I was actually number one reading suit Colin Taylor 11 years may I left in about maybe a year five why did you leave uh They Ride me out they wrote you out why Professor you know my bad behaviors and images around cannabis you know I got busted with weed not anymore beer avoided jail but the stigma ended his acting career he went into the illegal cannabis industry raking in thousands of dollars a month but I love this more it's my dream job it's this is not business this is [ __ ] personal this one's so special sticky Jasmine this one for rotates smooth and when you're small that's only really really good yeah if you want something like lazy chill do nothing I'm shaking my head I just can't I can't get my head around this yet but in Thailand cannabis is so out in the open now they're talking about flavors varieties strength and just a couple of months ago that would be Unthinkable here 3.5 of sticky Jasmine and two grams of the apple fritter is 4050 and in the space of about 10 minutes you've sold about 10 000 Baht worth of stuff so about just on a 500 Australian dollars in less than 10 minutes that's a good day that's a good day yeah oh that's a good 10 minutes yeah yeah good 10 minutes it's just making me look good on camera the change in the law has been life-changing for many in the past being caught with cannabis meant jail for thousands of people tossiporn and parapat were two of them [Music] foreign on the day cannabis was no longer classed as a narcotic they were released along with 3 000 other prisoners an unbelievable turnaround in a nation known for its zero tolerance to drugs in January this year tossiporn and parapat were recruited by a drug Syndicate to transport 355 kilograms of compressed brick weed [Music] the job was only supposed to take a few hours and pay them around two thousand dollars police had been tipped off and were waiting for them their arrest was big news in Thailand's Northeast where they live here foreign Thai prisons are notorious and they were sentenced to seven years inside [Music] just four months in everything changed they were released and their cannabis related criminal records were deleted foreign [Music] Public Health Minister ranu tin has invited me to travel with him on his private jet for him the medicinal cannabis industry is the main game and he wants to take me to see how it's taken off okay okay welcome aboard thank you this is very nice my pleasure where are we headed today we want to bring you to Murray Ram to witness what we are doing you definitely see the Cannabis cultivation not only the plan but how it becomes industrialized before politics anutin was a businessman who ran his family's construction conglomerate his personal wealth is listed at 170 million dollars and this is your plane this is my plan I fly quite a lot as a minister of Public Health of Thailand I have to go to almost every city I'm more than willing to provide these convenience to myself [Music] after a 40-minute flight from Bangkok we arrive at Buri Ram province in the Northeast it's underton's home base and his party's stronghold he's popular here cannabis has also raised his profile Nationwide and some say it's put him on track to be a future Prime Minister we joined the ministerial Convoy into town [Music] the medicinal cannabis industry has flourished under anutin and the minister checks out cameraman is ready for the tour where's Craig oh okay we're going inside this is one of the first community-run Farms to be licensed it started off growing cannabis high in the therapeutic chemical CBD for a local hospital but is now also planning to sell plants directly to the public this is cloning from the motor plant and after it can stand alone they move this into the farm they're trying to work out the best conditions for each variety this produces 14 TSE and they're trying to do experiment if they can plan it out of but it's currently monsoon season here in Thailand so hot houses are more reliable and another two weeks they will collect the flowers and then do the process Factory and regulated they must have low levels of the psychoactive chemical THC this is the cannabis oil that was made from that extract over there yeah it's a CBD oil which can be used for epilepsy anxiety nausea and insomnia mixed with olive oil and what's this used for are you asleep for sleeping you can try what they use is put one drop on on your knuckle okay and then you put under your tongue under my tongue and that'll help me sleep better yes I don't want to take it now then I'm still working [Music] Farmers right across the country can now apply to grow all types of cannabis I'm about to meet two sisters cashing in [Music] their Farm was known for Japanese melons then four years ago they pivoted to cannabis and haven't looked back [Music] we under TV right yeah John Kwan and jumpsuda are loving life as gunshipreneurs johnsida handles the business side grower they started with hundreds of seeds but it didn't go so well talk me through how it kind of went and start with the secrets yeah yes there's no way going to be success we did try many many things like turn on the music we talk with them like hi beautiful girls how are you you look so green when they have like someone to someone to care about them like like hi kids yeah like Ah that's my girl [Music] it was a case of Third Time Lucky they started off supplying the local hospital now they're branching out into the recreational Market John Kwan is taking me to see her pride and joy we can't follow the outside area so I don't want anything like to course with my baby the Cannabis of your babies yes that's my girl okay your girl she's still watching now so I don't want anyone to touch her okay put on your face on my feet okay and that's one two three [Music] [Applause] wow yeah she's my girl at your phone State you can touch her see it feels quite spongy come in don't have to be scrubbly I don't have to be worried about the police here yeah I know they had two outlay eighty thousand dollars to set this business up and broke even in the first year like we're in the middle of the jungle a square meter of melons used to earn them about twenty dollars cannabis fetches close to a thousand so I think it's better right better so much better I like I don't know [Music] out on the land though many farmers are finding growing cannabis is harder than you think [Music] is a rice farmer in Buri rum today the paddies need spraying with fertilizer but the sprayer is playing up he makes about four and a half thousand dollars a year in a good season so the promise of a new cash crop was welcome foreign holding all his life and he knows what works so when Queen Annie chin says that farmers can get rich from Cannabis what do you think of that um have you spoken to other farmers are they trying to grow it foreign ER nor the soil here are suitable for growing cannabis and he says people are worried about growing it out in the open where children could get their hands on it Young [Music] lots of people are worried about children a national survey found the majority of tires don't want them getting into ganja culture do you feel as though Thailand rushed into this con and um runs a popular parenting and education website she says teachers are confused about what to teach students foreign says she's seen cannabis at school and is a little curious what do you think about that couldn't be does worry though for teenagers who might not speak as openly with their parents soon even use it properly is have some benefits for sure but if you use it improperly it can cause some damage Dr chanchai sitapan is the dean of Chula Longhorn University's faculty of medicine he's concerned by the recreational use he's seen in the hospital we see cases that have some side effects from Cannabis juice especially with edible cannabis that sometimes they don't know is contains cannabis more than a thousand Thai doctors have pleaded with the government to suspend cannabis decriminalization until the new law is finalized by the parliament obviously we worry for young people that we have a data suggesting that it might cause a problem in their cognitive function in a long-term basis but I want to emphasize that for for my my belief nobody should use cannabis as a recreation or nuclear basis I mean because even you are growing up man if you use it long term I see you believe that they might have some side effects in the future he's hopeful the proposed new law will clamp down on recreational use do you think Thailand could become the Amsterdam of Asia um I mean it depends on the law I I don't want Thailand to be thought of as that destination we don't want to be the the Cannabis Heaven of the world for the man who's driven the policy there are no regrets I never once uh try to promote people using it from smoking or from the entertainment purpose all the studies that we were given clearly stated that if we used cannabis plans in the correct way it would create lots of opportunities not only on Revenue part but also the better health of the people but this was a big shift wasn't it from completely illegal to now it's allowed that's that's a really significantly don't see it from that point as long as we have created or established the regulations and the law to control the use of these plans we cannot step back [Music] on Thailand's Island some tourists are already noticing a difference [Music] Thailand is famous among young Travelers for its full moon parties on kopangyang some take drugs here but no one's hiding cannabis anymore I think it's a good thing because like young people they like to try it out and like they can try it out here without being punished [Music] yeah whatever like whatever you go now uh you know it's Amsterdam again in in Asia [Music] [Music] it's not just young people lighting up at parties across the water on Koh Samui this upmarket beach club is catering for everyone ready roll joints are now a feature of the menu marijuana couldn't have come up about a time you know you can really feel it's reinvigorated the market there's a new energy here Resort owner Carl lams lived on smui for 25 years Chi Beach Club and his 200 other properties were just about deserted during covert but they're bouncing back most of our inquiries are is it true you can smoke and sell marijuana in Thailand and we can see from the bookings for Christmas they're they're crazy you know I haven't seen this kind of appetite for Koh Samui in 10 years and you put that down to cannabis yeah absolutely it's a game changer yeah the customers we meet can't believe their luck we came in there when marijuana wasn't available and a month into our trip it was like you can buy weed everywhere I mean like you know in the bars in the cafes on the street and it's a wee smoker I was like how cool is this so so they are writing new regulations at the moment we actually kind of welcomed some sort of Regulation yeah we don't think it's a bad thing foreign 's gone from zero tolerance to one of the most LAX cannabis regimes in the world it's still grappling with the laws the politics and the freedoms for many There's No Going Back it's the genie out of the bottle now oh hell yeah like there's no way like we're not going back in there's like there's no way in hell that broke that bottle is broken it's gone foreign [Music]
2022-10-12 03:29
