Is Thailand the New Weed Capital of the World? | Foreign Correspondent

From zero tolerance to decriminalisation, Thailand’s recent u-turn on its cannabis laws is lighting up a billion-dollar industry. Officially it’s for medicinal use but the legal grey area means ‘ganja’ lovers are celebrating. Subscribe: https://ab.co/3yqPOZ5

It’s the country which gave us the words ‘bong’ and ‘ganja’.

In Thailand, cannabis has been used for centuries in traditional medicine.

But when the US launched its ‘war on drugs’ in the 1970s, Thailand became a key partner, placing cannabis on the narcotics list and toughening penalties against it.

This June, the country took it off that list, meaning cannabis sellers and recreational users no longer risked jail for selling or possessing cannabis.

In tourist hotspots, a ‘ganja-culture’ is fast taking hold. In Bangkok’s Khao San Road nightspot, it seems easier to buy a joint than a Pad Thai.

‘Now it’s legal – God gave a gift for us’, says Choco Gonzales, a cannabis seller in Bangkok.

And it’s party time for tourists at the famous full moon party at Koh Phangan in the country’s southeast.

‘Wherever you go now, it’s Amsterdam again in Asia’, says an Italian tourist at the party.

As Australia reignites on its own debate about legalising cannabis, Southeast Asia correspondent Mazoe Ford travels around Thailand to meet the new crop of ‘ganja-preneurs’ cashing in on the green rush.

In Bangkok, Kitty Chopaka, a shop owner selling cannabis products and a leading advocate of decriminalisation, is still pinching herself.

‘I never thought in my lifetime that this would actually happen…But at the same time I knew it has to be done.’

In the southern island of Samui, resort owner Carl Lamb reckons the liberalisation of the laws is attracting overseas tourists.

‘You can really feel it’s reinvigorated the market. There’s a new energy here.’

Ford also hitches a ride on the private jet of the politician behind the policy – Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

He takes us to Thailand’s east to spruik the medicinal cannabis industry which the government hopes will become a billion-dollar industry.

‘It turned out that majority of my voters chose to vote for my party… some people even called my party (the) “Cannabis Party”’, he tells Ford.

But not everyone welcomes the change. More than a thousand doctors have warned that the drug was delisted before proper safeguards and regulations were in place.

‘We don’t want to be the cannabis haven of the world’, say Doctor Chanchai Sittipunt from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine.

But Kitty Chopaka says going back isn’t possible – the genie is out of the bottle.

‘That bottle is broken. It’s gone!’

Read more here: https://ab.co/3ebD2pG

About Foreign Correspondent:
Foreign Correspondent is the prime-time international public affairs program on Australia’s national broadcaster, ABC-TV. We produce half-hour duration in-depth reports for broadcast across the ABC’s television channels and digital platforms. Since 1992, our teams have journeyed to more than 170 countries to report on war, natural calamity and social and political upheaval – through the eyes of the people at the heart of it all.

Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1

For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY

Get breaking news and livestreams from our ABC News channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NewsOnABC
Like ABC News on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au
Follow ABC News on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au
Follow ABC News on Twitter: http://twitter.com/abcnews

Contributions may be removed if they violate ABC’s Online Terms of Use http://www.abc.net.au/conditions.htm (Section 3). This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel

50 Comments

  1. @MeL-MayLing-Love-LE on December 16, 2023 at 6:58 pm

    It is better to use cannabis than children !



  2. @artcook1976 on December 16, 2023 at 6:59 pm

    Used to enjoy thia stick in the 70tys 😊



  3. @alex_siberian on December 16, 2023 at 7:03 pm

    Россияне вам завидуют 😮😢



  4. @dopamine.my- on December 16, 2023 at 7:05 pm

    Lol, She said 100 aus dollar for 5 grams which is 5500 Indian rupees . In India it is illegal, Still I would get around 80 grams for 5500😂



  5. @LoneWolf-vf1tx on December 16, 2023 at 7:05 pm

    $100 for a 5 gram bud? Tell em their dreamin!



  6. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:08 pm

    The thing is there’s so many different types of THC



  7. @sergente753 on December 16, 2023 at 7:08 pm

    Pensando ai Thai Sticks, Thai the Killer, che si trovavano ad Amsterdam, direi proprio di si…



  8. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:09 pm

    The best pot always had seeds



  9. @Cristian_M_ on December 16, 2023 at 7:09 pm

    Successful people don’t become that way overnight. What most people see as a glance of wealth, a great career, and purpose is the result of hard work and hustle over time. I pray that anyone who is reading this will be successful in life,.,,.,.,



  10. @seniut on December 16, 2023 at 7:10 pm

    0:49



  11. @IfratIkhtearUddin on December 16, 2023 at 7:10 pm

    Reality is it is much less harmful than Alcohol, so whats the fuss here?



  12. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:11 pm

    How much did they say 5 G was worth ?



  13. @LarisGuzman-vk2ed on December 16, 2023 at 7:14 pm

    Much love from El Chapo son Laris forschen Guzman from Dunseith North Dakota God bless you all 🙏♥️🤟



  14. @Quick-Laughs123 on December 16, 2023 at 7:14 pm

    Good health to them, trying to make a better life for themselves…Go for it, I can’t understand how half the world lives in backward times, where it is still illegal. It’s still illegal here in the UK. it’s ridiculous



  15. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:15 pm

    Heat some up in honey, then eat it, it’s like a very very strong gummy, you’ll get so high he gets scared come like eating hashish



  16. @frankleslie4682 on December 16, 2023 at 7:15 pm

    Thai weed, I want some.



  17. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:15 pm

    Afghanistan grows the best weed they let it go to seed, in the seed husk has the most potent THC available, that is to protect the seed, all the seedless stuff I have yet to find anything to compare to that Afghani tar as we used to call it



  18. @haydnkeith1658 on December 16, 2023 at 7:17 pm

    could they have found a more preppy, conservative judgmental journalist to cover this story ?



  19. @bernarddemonceaux9000 on December 16, 2023 at 7:18 pm

    *nice🍄🥣🦋*



  20. @3zeya238 on December 16, 2023 at 7:19 pm

    Ladyboys & weed! What else could be better 😂😂



  21. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:19 pm

    Do they have a mail-order business?



  22. @azeembajwa23 on December 16, 2023 at 7:20 pm

    just wow yes to Thailand true heaven



  23. @matti9186 on December 16, 2023 at 7:20 pm

    before you can get weed everywhere so



  24. @jeorgetheodore1798 on December 16, 2023 at 7:25 pm

    Yeah, thailand may be the pioneer on legalizing marijuana but trust me Philippines will be the Amsterdam in Asia.



  25. @drpk6514 on December 16, 2023 at 7:27 pm

    I was there and saw the impact on the population.
    It looks all young Thai boys and girls are doing it at night. The condition around the shops is like moths around a light bulb at night.
    They destroyed the next generation for a bunch of money and votes.



  26. @LarisGuzman-vk2ed on December 16, 2023 at 7:27 pm

    🙏



  27. @pedrodemingo7332 on December 16, 2023 at 7:28 pm

    YA ERA HORA.!!!!!!



  28. @user-nl9du5ni3q on December 16, 2023 at 7:29 pm



  29. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:30 pm

    In the 70s we used to buy Columbian gold and it was more seeds and pots but it was the best marijuana that you could possibly smoke, one maybe two hits and that was it.



  30. @ani-sv5fh on December 16, 2023 at 7:30 pm

    Fear GOD intoxication is sin my friend



  31. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:32 pm

    In the 70s we used to buy the Thai stick it was a stick wrapped the stick with buds👍



  32. @user-ClaudeBitterballs on December 16, 2023 at 7:32 pm

    This is so awesome I love that jacket that is like the coolest jacket ever! I sure wish I was there rather than where I’m stuck at I tell you! That’s great people keep up the great work and Good times!



  33. @GHOSTsq on December 16, 2023 at 7:35 pm

    with fake hemp and spraying Posin on it to …..



  34. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:36 pm

    If anyone can point me in the right direction for poppy seeds of much appreciated, wanting to grow beautiful garden



  35. @uropinionmatters on December 16, 2023 at 7:36 pm

    Thailand is now a truly Land of the smiles. Congrats Thailand 🔥👌😜💨💨💨💨💨



  36. @user-pr7vl2zj7g on December 16, 2023 at 7:38 pm

    Their goes pharmaceutical



  37. @user-pr7vl2zj7g on December 16, 2023 at 7:39 pm

    Already much sweet putang and yumm yumm great place to visit now to n my list



  38. @torplus3153 on December 16, 2023 at 7:39 pm

    มันดีสำหรับการท่องเที่ยวไหม? ฉันหวังว่าคุณจะชอบมันนะ ❤



  39. @n.b.p.davenport7066 on December 16, 2023 at 7:39 pm

    Good weed is one hit more than that you’re wasting it we used to get some in the 60s and 70s that was just incredible, it was almost paralyzing



  40. @Marcus-vr9hi on December 16, 2023 at 7:40 pm

    ❤❤❤need❤your❤help❤❤❤❤❤



  41. @burtmann3921 on December 16, 2023 at 7:41 pm

    wish I could live there to help show how to grow it there. The plant can adapt in almost any environment



  42. @jaykay5137 on December 16, 2023 at 7:42 pm

    Legalise it , will england ever do that !!



  43. @RowdyBorders-ni3ti on December 16, 2023 at 7:42 pm

    My family member was on oxycodone for ten years and basically cold turkey with marijuana an hemp oil off the heavy meds after open heart shoulder replacement
    Thanks to Gods weeds



  44. @user-lc4le8jf3e on December 16, 2023 at 7:43 pm

    Sana all ph



  45. @ChrizdaphaHizzy on December 16, 2023 at 7:43 pm

    Awesome



  46. @deandesantis2981 on December 16, 2023 at 7:47 pm

    Lets hope China stays away



  47. @TerryMcShitty on December 16, 2023 at 7:47 pm

    Today its Greasemonkey!
    34.99 total cannabinoids
    Indica leaning hybrid
    Beautiful dense buds with orange and purple hairs.
    Lemony, gassy, diesel taste.

    BEAM ME UP SCOTTY!
    🛸
    🕴🏽



  48. @jst4572 on December 16, 2023 at 7:53 pm

    My first time growing cannabis for myself was a hit. I had two plants. I think they both Hermes on me but if you know you know. Nothing wrong with a hermie plant at all. Had enough to last me months when it was all said and done.

    Also growing cannabis isn’t like growing corn or wheat. You have to really micromanage the process. Always check the plants for signs of stress. Make sure the water you’re giving it is ph appropriate. And the soil has to have enough nutrients to last the grow (especially outside where there are more variables vs inside where you make sure you get a good soil and put the nutrients in the water you’re feeding it). Investing in greenhouse infrastructure may be the way to help farmers switch from one crop to this one.



  49. @rhydernotclickbait936 on December 16, 2023 at 7:54 pm

    4:23 that would cost about 60-70 in aid now day



  50. @99Chef on December 16, 2023 at 7:56 pm

    Where’s my sponsor…I’m coming 2024