NEARLY a year after Thailand decriminalized the use of cannabis, local cannabis growers revealed their business is being undercut by cheaper illegal imports from overseas.
In 2018, Thailand became the first Asian nation to legalize medical cannabis and in June 2022 became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize marijuana.
Known locally as Ganja, Thai growers, and sellers complain that low-cost cannabis imported illegally from the US undermines efforts to achieve an economic bonanza.
A high-profile campaign was launched last year to establish the kingdom as a global hub for cannabis for medical purposes, with promises of an economic bonanza for Thai growers and sellers.
But recently, local businesses revealed that foreign money is filling the gap, with foreign brokers approaching local dispensaries to promote cheap and smuggled weed that is untaxed and then sold at two to five times its original price.
Moreover, US strains have higher THC content, making them more attractive to customers.
In February, Thailand’s parliament failed to pass a long-awaited cannabis bill that aims to regulate the wider use of the drug and outlaw recreational smoking.
