I look like a bad boy holding this jar.
It is like in the Narcos or Breaking Bad series.
If I hold these cannabis bags,
I could be (Pablo) Escobar.
If this picture is leaked to the US I would be on a wanted poster.
This room stores premium-grade cannabis flowers
worth almost $1 million.
One kilogram of cannabis flowers is worth around $2,800.
This room is worth $835,000
because there are 300kg here.
This cannabis farm sprang up, on a gigantic rice field
in Kanchanaburi, not far from Bangkok.
It’s not the only one.
The BBC has found similar farms across the province.
It shows how fast, the cannabis industry has grown
in less than two years since it was legalised.
But now, the government looks set to make a U-turn
by banning its recreational use,
leaving this big business in limbo.
Thailand became the first Asian country
to legalise cannabis in 2022.
This is one of the first customers,
buying cannabis for recreational use.
Since then, around 20,000 cannabis shops and dispensaries
have opened across Thailand.
They are mostly situated in nightlife districts
where foreign tourists like to stay.
In Bangkok, you can find a cannabis shop
on almost every street corner.
But it’s here in Kanchanaburi
where most of the cannabis, for the local market is grown.
These rice fields are now home to cannabis farms, as big as factories.
People are still wary of cannabis.
They see it as a dangerous thing.
So we chose a rice field that is a bit further away from the local community.
It’s an oasis.
We’re trying to bring prosperity to this rural area.
I can produce about 150kg of cannabis flowers every six months.
There are almost 600,000 cannabis plants
being grown in Kanchanaburi.
This province is home to the largest weed farm in Asia.
We are the largest cannabis grower in Asia.
The size of our cannabis industrial park
is about 150 acres.
We have 60 large indoor farms.
We can produce around three tonnes of cannabis flowers indoors every two months
or 1.5 tonnes per month.
From the outdoor farm, I can produce 3,000kg in the same period.
Premium-grade cannabis flowers
are sold for more than $30 per gram.
If one kilogram is worth $30,000.
it means this farm can produce indoor-grown cannabis,
worth $45 million every month.
The cannabis industry in Thailand
is projected to be worth $1 billion this year,
and will increase to $1.2 billion next year.
However, the highly-profitable business is facing a potential crisis.
We don’t have a law during this time
so people have been smoking weed from bongs
rolled it into weed cigarettes, chopped, ground, all sorts of things.
These things are considered a misuse
and are harmful.
Cannabis legalisation is actually a loophole in the law
allowing people to use cannabis products
with less than 0.2% of THC,
a substance that makes you high.
Since decriminalisation less than two years ago,
there has been no law to control the use of cannabis,
until now.
The Thai government is planning to ban the recreational use of cannabis,
and only allow for medical use, by the end of this year.
We need the law to regulate the use of marijuana and hemp.
Since this law hasn’t passed yet
anyone can go into a cannabis shop and buy cannabis sold in those glass containers
and claim they need it for medical purposes.
This is the loophole that we can’t control
and we need to draft this law to regulate that in the future.
Those who need it (cannabis) would have to get a medical prescription
to prove that it’s for health reasons.
Cannabis growers and sellers
have applied for permits since the first day of decriminalisation.
But the government keeps postponing the publication of its implementation rules.
We have no power
while the people whose duty is to regulate this, will not do their job.
Now, they’ve started blaming cannabis.
We are so tired of this charade.
How can we live like this?
It is a joke with no end in sight.
What will the government define as recreational and medical use?
Smoking a joint is considered heat therapy.
It’s a medical practice as well.
As soon as the new legislation passes, cannabis dispensaries will be in chaos.
What will happen to the 20,000 cannabis shops?
According to the health minister,
they can operate until their permit expires.
If they want to renew their license,
the shop needs to convert to a cannabis medical clinic,
and provide cannabis for proven medicinal purposes only.
We are heartbroken and worried
about how it will turn out.
We invested a lot of money in it.
So, we didn’t need to legalise cannabis, right?
Let’s keep it underground like it used to be.
You’ve already legalised it.
Now, you want to take it back.
What about the people who have invested in it?
As for medium and large growers,
they believe they can still adapt to the new law.
I am a producer. I could adapt.
I could make cannabis for both medical and recreational use
as long as the government provides clear details on how they will regulate it.
I am ready to comply with the new law.
But the Thai minister warns
that cannabis producers will be heavily controlled as well.
This law supports medical usage
but it has to be controlled
meaning that the production, import, export
or processing will require permission.
It will mean that even just transporting cannabis flowers
which is happening freely now from farm to factory,
this would be illegal.
But many cannabis growers think
the new law is too strict.
We are so far behind compared to other countries.
Why are foreigners excited to smoke weed legally in Thailand?
It is a cool experience
and with proper regulation, we could enjoy weed without disturbing others.
I believe that everyone would comply with such regulation.
The government U-turn comes
after a survey showed that
recreational use among minors, under the age of twenty,
has increased ten times.
Another survey says
many Thais see cannabis as a drug
which can harm society.
Cannabis is not the bad guy, it’s not the villain.
The government should consider cannabis as an economic crop.
It does not mean we allow certain people to consume it freely
or it’s just for a group of investors.
There are people who want to develop cannabis into an economic crop
and produce it as a medicine.
Cannabis is not worse than alcohol and cigarettes.
It just needs reasonable and clear regulations
so that we can keep going.
So that people who invested a lot of money
will not be abandoned or left to just die.
Cannabis is not evil like what many people fear.