Thailand’s flourishing cannabis culture under threat as gov’t seeks ban | In Pictures

Thodsapol Hongtong is having fun with a smoke along with his pals on the Inexperienced Social gathering, a venue the place leisure hashish fanatics meet within the Thai capital Bangkok to speak and have a great time. Nevertheless it’s a pastime which may be coming to an finish.

The 31-year-old influencer, who runs his personal hashish store, commonly touts leisure marijuana pretty much as good for the nation’s economic system on his on-line platform Channel Weed Thailand.

The booming hashish sector could possibly be value $1.2bn by subsequent yr, based on an estimate by the College of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

“The place [else] on this planet can we lie round on the seaside and luxuriate in a joint,” Thodsapol advised the Reuters information company, taking a puff from his bong.

However the Thai authorities is trying to stamp out hashish tradition with a ban on its leisure use to be rolled out by the finish of the yr. Medical use will nonetheless be permitted.

In an interview with Reuters final month, Thai Well being Minister Cholnan Srikaew described leisure marijuana as a “misuse” of hashish that has a destructive affect on Thai kids and will result in different drug abuses.

Leisure hashish flourished in Thailand after the nation turned the primary in Asia to absolutely decriminalise the substance in 2022, enabling a brand new public wave of weed appreciation tradition.

Neon indicators of hashish leaves in a number of languages are seen on many road corners in Thai cities and cities, marking the tens of 1000’s of outlets, spas, bars and gaming lounges the place quite a lot of hashish strains are available.

Many streetside outlets in vacationer areas promote smoking paraphernalia, whereas cannabis-related festivals turned extra widespread, like final yr’s joint-rolling competitors within the resort island of Phuket that drew in weed aficionados from all over the world.

The Thai authorities’s draft regulation banning leisure use of hashish might be up for cupboard approval later this month.