Sawadee Everyone,
I can’t help but laugh every time someone from the Phuket Tourism Association claims that cannabis is “bad for tourism.”
Let’s be clear, these people don’t represent Phuket’s tourism industry as a whole. They represent the big players: hotels, tour conglomerates, duty-free empires. Think Wyndham, Sheraton, Holiday Inn, King Power. The suits, not the street vendors.
In a recent Bangkok Post piece titled “Whiffy Phuket urges cannabis blitz”, PTA vice-president Sarayut Mallum warned that “some tourists smoked several joints in succession, leading to hallucinations and dangerous actions.”
Dangerous actions, you say? You know what causes far more of those? Alcohol. The World Health Organization says there’s no safe amount of booze. Even one drink harms your body.
I’m not anti-booze. I enjoy an occassional cold one myself. But the audacity of pointing fingers at weed while drunks are literally staggering up and down Bangla Road every night, puking on sidewalks, fighting, wrecking scooters, and waking up in hospitals, is beyond parody.
If cannabis is a public-safety concern, then Bangla Road is a weapon of mass destruction.
Every year, 30–40 tourists drown in Phuket. Another hundred die in traffic accidents or fights. No one’s calling for swimming-license checks or bans on scooter rentals to unlicensed tourists. But weed, zero fatalities in 10,000 years, is the hill they’ve chosen to die on.
The PTA keeps whining about Phuket’s “family-friendly image.” Apparently, a sunburned Aussie passed out in his own vomit on Bangla Road is wholesome fun for the kids, but a guy quietly spacing out on the beach is a moral crisis.
The only half-credible complaint about weed is the smell. Fair. I can’t stand cigars either. But there are adult ways to deal with odor that don’t involve prohibition.
Ironically, or typically, since this is Thailand (TiT), the two easiest fixes are banned.
Vaping (dry herb or liquid) cuts the smell dramatically. I’ve vaped right next to my wife and she didn’t even notice. And designated smoking lounges would work just like the old airport cigarette rooms: smoky inside, neutral outside. Problem solved.
Las Vegas already made this mistake. They legalized weed for tourists, then banned public consumption. Brilliant. The result? Tourists smoking in casino parking garages and guests complaining that the parking garages smell like weed.
Thailand could learn other lessons from Vegas too. Both once offered affordable adult playgrounds. Then both tried to go “family-friendly,” pricing themselves out of their own market.
Vegas turned $1.99 steak-and-lobster dinners into $300 meals. Free parking became $50 a day. Even Wi-Fi became a “resort fee.” Tourists got fed up. These days, the only thing that stays in Vegas is your money.
Thailand’s heading down the same road. And like Vegas, the big operators blame everyone but themselves, certainly not their inflated prices or declining value.
Let’s be honest: the PTA isn’t speaking for Phuket. They’re speaking for themselves. Their business model depends on mass tourism, busloads of visitors funneled through the same hotels, restaurants, and King Power gift shops.
Meanwhile, they ignore the mom-and-pop businesses that actually give Phuket its soul , the very people who could benefit from cannabis tourism.
And while they pretend to clutch pearls over public safety, they’ve never called for tighter alcohol rules, quite the opposite, actually. Many of these same industry groups lobby the government to relax alcohol restrictions because it’s good for their business.
So let’s do the math:
• Alcohol: ~70,000 Thai deaths per year.
• Cannabis: still at a clean, crisp zero.
But sure, weed is the threat to “family values.”
Stay lifted and enlightened,
thailandTHC
Thailand THC Monthly News Wrap-Up
Your industry briefing: legal updates, science breakthroughs, and Thai political gymnastics.
The Blunt Truth
Germany publishes real data on legalization.
Thailand considers a “drug war reset” while simultaneously promoting cannabis culture festivals.
Science continues to prove cannabis beats pain meds.
And yes, a new cannabinoid has entered the chat.
Germany Releases Legalization Report
Result: Youth use down. Traffic accidents unchanged. Adults behaving normally.
Germany’s federal government released its first official evaluation of cannabis legalization, and the results dismantle every tired prohibition argument:
Youth cannabis use declined after legalization
No increase in accidents or dangerous driving
Adult use remained stable, not higher
The only weakness noted: the illicit market hasn’t shrunk yet, because Germany still doesn’t have a full commercial retail system, only social clubs and personal cultivation.
Analysis: Legalization works when you let the legal market actually function.
Thailand: Bhumjaithai Announces Drug-War Reset
Cannabis reform “finished,” but remember, they are the party that legalized it.
Deputy PM Sophon Saram stood before Parliament and declared that Bhumjaithai will now focus on tackling drugs, asking for four months to show results. He said cannabis reform is “done.”
We remain tactful on this one. Without Bhumjaithai and Anutin, cannabis would still be illegal. Whatever political pressure they’re navigating now, the legalization legacy stands.
Thailand to Implement 300-Baht Tourist Entry Fee
Projected to start within four months.
The Ministry of Tourism confirmed plans to collect a 300-baht entry fee from foreign tourists, framed as a “safety and welfare” fund. Nobody seems to think whacking on a 300 baht fee will impact tourism in any way.
Whether or not tourists view this as a “safety enhancement” remains to be seen.
Science: Cannabis Outperforms Pain Meds
Clinical study + large patient survey = consistent results.
German clinical trial
820 patients with chronic lower back pain
Treated with full-spectrum extract (5% THC)
Reported pain relief and better sleep
No addiction or serious adverse effects
U.S. national chronic-pain survey
35% stopped prescription pain medications entirely after switching to cannabis
56% reported significant pain reduction
Sleep and mobility improved
Analysis: Patients are not seeking intoxication.
They are seeking relief.
Researchers Discover New Cannabinoid: CBGD
Potential strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
A scientific team identified a new cannabinoid, Cannabizetol (CBGD), with very promising dermatological and anti-inflammatory characteristics.
The more we study cannabis, the more value we uncover.
Policy restrictions are now the only limiting factor.
Event: NUDKINPUK FAIR 2025 Returns
November 8–9, ChangChui Creative Park, Bangkok
Thailand’s largest cannabis culture festival returns — music, vendors, healing zone, and the Miss Mary Jane pageant.
A festival celebrating the very industry certain politicians say they’re “finished” with. Thailand remains Thailand.
Media Fear-Bait of the Week
A crime story was framed as a “weed causes violence” narrative.
Cannabis is not the cause of violent crime, domestic trauma, mental illness, or societal failures.
It is a plant.
Final Thought
Every new study confirms what the industry has known for decades:
Cannabis is not a problem to be controlled.
It is a resource to be understood and optimized.
Legalization is not a leap of faith, it is evidence-based public policy.