We’re starting to cover legalization from the perspective of those trying to live the dream as cannabis professionals in emerging markets. Our first article is from our newest CannWriter, on some Gonzo shit on the ground from Thailand. Here is their first installment.
Cannabis in Thailand – Breaking In Staying In
“If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Or so the cliché goes. But there’s a reason pithy sayings don’t have qualifiers. Getting to the point where you are doing something that you love can take a lot of trying and failing. And trying and failing again. Opportunities materialize like land to a stranded sailor, only to be revealed as a mirage the closer they get.
Thailand is rich in many things, and since June 2022, it’s also been rich in cannabis dispensaries. They’re ubiquitous, especially in Bangkok, where it’s not unusual to see cheek-by-jowl dispensaries street after street (or soi after soi, as they’re known here). But for decades, having even a small amount of cannabis could cost you several years in jail—or, theoretically, the death penalty. You were always one surprise street drug test away, one raid on your hostel away, from looking down the barrel of a Southeast Asian jail experience. Which, despite what Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason would have you believe, likely doesn’t include cathartic group hangs.
While a stint in the Big House wasn’t assured, its looming potential hovered over each joint smoked on your balcony. Every police checkpoint and every stop at a reggae bar was fraught with the thought of: “Is today the day?” And once it was decriminalized, the sea of change was still far from smooth sailing. Despite an underground interest for years, a stigma persisted. A suspicion that was sometimes met with police force. For example, “Highland,” a group of cannabis-interested individuals (who also opened a “Highland Café”), saw their second fair raided by some 200 police officers, who discovered nothing illegal about the event.
The Thai Cannabis Chronicles
Anutin Charnvirakul, the current Deputy Prime Minister and former Health Minister (who also once claimed he regularly uses his private plane to carry human organs for transplant), previously remarked on the cultural reluctance toward cannabis as an inevitable apprehension that will be overcome through time and education.
However, as Devjyot Ghoshal, writing for Reuters, points out, once cannabis was decriminalized, the government quickly realized there was a large hole in their net of regulation. And all sorts of fish swam through. Kajkanit Sakdisubha, CEO and founder of Taratera blamed illegal imports for filling the gap in demand that couldn’t be satisfied domestically. However, as Ghoshal states, this illegality hasn’t impacted the blatant advertising and selling of it on the infamous Khao San Road.
Chris Gates is more blunt in his assessment of cannabis’ early days in Thailand. Gates, a local entrepreneur of Canna Girls brand vapes and dab accouterments and a long-time professional in the industry, says once cannabis was decriminalized under Anutin, the market saw a surge of people—young and old, rich and poor—taking to the investment opportunity alike. They were sold on the idea they would all be rich. And they bet big. That is, the fish that swam so eagerly through the loophole were foreigners, but many were Thai as well. Further, Gates sees Thailand’s cannabis success as no fluke. He says it’s the underground element that acted as a ready-made infrastructure, which has partially allowed it to spring up so quickly.
Thailand’s Cannabusiness Boom
Today, dispensaries are legion and come in all varieties: high-end, high-concept shops modeled after Alice in Wonderland, grungy shops that offer close quarters, dubious-tasting edibles, and a great place to chill with strangers. Most shops offer anywhere from half a dozen to several dozen cannabis strains. The estimated number of dispensaries in Thailand varies, with an estimate between 8 to 12,000, with most estimates putting it closer to 8,000.
They’re clustered together. They’re on the outskirts of town. Sandwiched between massage spots and Indian restaurants. You can find tiny, shack-like dispensaries in the provinces located in garages and huts in dirt parking lots. Some shops feature busty bikini-clad girls in their logos, many feature the iconic cannabis leaf, and one shop even featured a brand image that was a little too close to a mega coffee chain’s image for their liking.
Everyone insists you smell their cannabis. There are a lot of eager faces and enthusiastic greetings that recall the type of corporate-mandated enthusiasm you might feel at a chain restaurant in the States. Others are staffed by family members, some by solo workers, clean-cut or dread-locked, heavily tattooed. Sometimes startled to have customers. Sometimes, you have to wait a moment for the shopkeeper to return while their friend fetches them. And the standard question you get everywhere is always, “Do you prefer sativa or indica?”
Like most expenditures, you can find much cheaper options the further you go from Bangkok. A day trip to the former capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya, or, if you want something a bit greener, Kanchanaburi, both provinces just a few hours outside of Bangkok, where you can get cannabis for less than half the cost. You can also look into the many delivery options shops offer, with some offering to deliver products from Chiang Mai or the islands to anywhere in Thailand.
Navigating Weed Wonderland
At a certain point, the dispensaries blend together, like the second hour, into a meeting on anything. You know important details have been imparted, but they’re lost somewhere in a haze of missing and half-remembered information. Some dispensaries offer punch cards for discounts, and most offer a discount on bulk sales. Some dispensaries offer close to a hundred strains; some offer a handful. There are cozy neighborhood dispensaries. There are monolithic structures that have all the authentic warmth you’ve come to expect from major corporations. However, what usually sets them apart is their customer service.
You’ll find some dispensaries that develop a following. People will gladly sit on the floor just to hang out inside. Crowding together as the music flows and the joints are passed, the conversation can take surprising turns with the occasional bout of paranoia or character flaw coming through. But for the most part, heated exchanges and intensely uncomfortable revelations are kept to a minimum. Friendly – but not overly-zealously-so – budtenders really help set the mood (or settle it down). Good budtenders, like good anything else, you remember by name. And you go back to see.
The illicit element that may have helped provide the infrastructure has faded to the margins. It’s too late for the barn door, the metaphorical cow is on the loose, and not eager to go back inside. Instead, the industry is racing to decide what type of pasture is acceptable. Marketing is nebulous. You have to be careful that you’re clearly not selling products, even on platforms where you are explicitly trying to sell products.
Job Opportunities or Just Smoke?
My first job offer at a dispensary came about through almost no effort on my part. I had stopped in a shop because it had the look of a cool, underground bar, like something I’d seen in Chicago back in the States. It was also within walking distance from my apartment, and with an abundance of options, convenience is always one of the most attractive. The exterior was somewhat shaped like a flat iron and was just past a pharmacy and across the street from a 7/11. It was easy to miss at first; the building is at an angle that lends itself to looking past. But once you see the vibrantly beckoning neon sign, you’re taken aback. It pulls you in. And in a crowded marketplace, every bit of novelty or sidewalk appeal helps.
The interior felt even more effortlessly cool than the outside. More space was dedicated to hanging out than to the product. It had a paint-splattered, neo-noir, cyberpunk aesthetic. And sitting in the middle of the shop, looking as if he’d just received a call that his whole family had been in a terrible fire that he started, was the owner. The exceptionally morose owner was bemoaning how much money he had already sunk into the shop and how much more he would have to sink into it. I’m no expert, but it felt like the opposite of the vibe you want in a dispensary. Really, anywhere. I “happened” to casually mention my background in marketing and writing when the owner blurted out, “Maybe you could do our marketing?” and then threw out a per-hour rate that far exceeded what I’d ever made doing freelance writing or editing. It was a number that’s largesse and randomness, which made his financial woes make a little more sense.
I looked at him and nodded thoughtfully yet noncommittally. For once in my life, I didn’t wear all my emotions on my sleeve like the world’s worst poker player. I was pumped. After going into so many dispensaries and feeling them out on their marketing situation, here was an opportunity falling about as much into my lap as possible. Like many things that seem too easy or too good to be true, this offer was both. Shortly after the surprise job offer, I texted the owner about how excited I was to work together. I got crickets in response. Not even crickets. More like the haunting silence of space or the silent moments after a joke doesn’t land and you realize you have read the room terribly wrong.
A week or so went by, and I walked past the shop and noticed the padlock on the entrance. Between that and the owner’s unresponsiveness, I was starting to get a bad feeling (I knew unequivocally that the job was gonzo). From there, I faced many more promising starts, followed by abrupt stops, in my cannabis journey. Pounding the pavement, I stopped at shops I hadn’t visited. Marketing situations were again felt out. Possible writing jobs were dangled, but by the time I swam back around the worm that once seemed to dangle so fat and promising had apparently slipped off the hook, disappearing into the void of things that never come to be. An interview was held for a sizeable position with an F&B/cannabis conglomerate. The interview seemed to go well, but to this day, I’m not sure if I was supposed to leave the office when I did. No one was around to answer further questions, so I went back into the wild. A different dispensary eventually came along and I was able to use my false start to carry my pitch forward.
Political Puffery
However, “stops and starts” could also describe Thailand’s cannabis journey. Since decriminalizing cannabis back in 2022, different government factions have proudly stated that doing away with cannabis is one of their top priorities. A bill that attempted to severely restrict cannabis consumption stalled earlier this year, but once again, we are hearing that recreational use could be banned by the end of the year. Some critics contend that it harms society, specifically children, and is a gateway drug to harder substances.
The Plant Touching Industry
Currently, Thailand has thousands of operating dispensaries. And what would it mean if the courts suddenly changed their minds? Who knows. It would be such a massive do-over (reminiscent of America’s Roe v. Wade change of heart) that it’s hard to fathom. Last year alone, Thailand’s market size for cannabis was over 1 billion USD, a figure only expected to grow dramatically in the coming years.
There are (occasionally sold-out) cannabis-themed cruises, ranging from party-themed to fine dining experiences (among a wealth of other events, like “Thanksgiving Feasts,” etc). Festivals pop up across the country throughout the year. Four-story shops dominate your vision in Bangkok. Business giants, quick on the scene, see franchises pop up every day, with non-franchised shops disappearing just as suddenly. Some hospitals even have wings dedicated to cannabis as medicine.
But there are also mom-and-pop options with none of the frills of the more corporate entities, which often resemble a milk bar from A Clockwork Orange. They don’t have six dozen cannabis strains and various glass bongs that no one seems to buy. They are one- to two-person operations, and they still have bud that is far better than what you used to be able to get. What most shops have in common is that they feature some cannabis paraphernalia with Rick and Morty.
Hope in the Haze
Much like the soft clay Bangkok is built on (and currently sinking into nearly an inch per year), the cannabis industry in Thailand is built on unstable ground. But unlike Bangkok, which some projections say will dip below sea level in 100 short years, the cannabis industry could sink practically overnight.
While some shop owners wait with bated breath (and others a wry grin), it’s useful to remember the story of Pandora’s box. People forget that, besides letting all the evils loose in the world, what remained was hope. Yes, there’s an omnipresent threat that the whole operation could be washed out to sea like a sandcastle made at low tide, leaving the nation to start over from scratch. But there’s hope. There’s hope because Thai nationals and foreigners alike have shown a strong appetite for cannabis. And strong appetites, unlike ideals or dogma, spend money. Lots of money.
