High tide in Thailand: New cannabis laws attract tourists from all over Asia
BANGKOK (AP) — A Japanese tourist reaches into a bag of cannabis he just bought from a weed shop in downtown Bangkok, extracts a gram of buds to finely chop in a small black grinder before neatly packing into a joint. be rolled.
Only the small spill on the table in the smoking lounge – and his cough as he lights up and inhales deeply – betray the fact that he had never tried marijuana until two weeks ago.
Most Asian countries have strict drug laws with harsh penalties, and Thailand’s de facto legalization of marijuana last year has intrigued a wave of tourists from the region, including the visitor from Japan, with the lure of the banned leaf.
“I was curious how I would feel after smoking,” said the 42-year-old tourist who spoke on the condition that his name not be used, fearing his experiments in Bangkok could lead to legal trouble at home.
“I wonder why Japan is banning it?” he thought. “I wanted to try.”
Even as more countries around the world legalize marijuana, Thailand is the outlier in Asia, where several countries still have the death penalty for some cannabis offenses. Singapore has already been executed two people this year for the marijuana trade and the Central Narcotics Bureau has announced plans to randomly test people returning from Thailand.
Japan does not have the death penalty for drug crimes, but has warned that its laws on cannabis use may apply to its nationals even when they are abroad.
China has been more explicit, with its embassy in Thailand warning that if Chinese tourists consume marijuana abroad and are “detected upon return to China, it will be considered equivalent to using drugs domestically. As a result, you will be subject to corresponding legal sanctions.It issues similar warnings for travel to other countries where marijuana is readily available, such as the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands.
On a recent flight from the Chinese city of Shanghai, passengers in Bangkok were warned not to “accidentally” try marijuana, announcing that in Thailand “some food and drinks may contain cannabis, so please look out for the leaf logo on the packaging of food .”
Neither the Chinese nor Singaporean authorities would detail how often they test citizens returning from countries where marijuana has been decriminalized, simply repeating their previously announced policy when asked by the AP.
It’s no wonder cannabis dispensaries in Bangkok say customers from Singapore and China are among the most cautious, asking questions about how long traces of the drug remain in the system and whether there are any detox products.
But many remain undeterred, and Thailand’s cannabis industry has grown at a breakneck pace, with weed dispensaries now almost as common as the ubiquitous convenience stores in some parts of the capital. According to official figures, nearly 6,000 cannabis-related business licenses have been approved through February, including more than 1,600 in Bangkok alone.
There are no government figures on how many tourists come specifically to smoke marijuana, but Kueakarun Thongwilai, the manager of a cannabis store in downtown Bangkok, estimates that at least 70%-80% of his customers are foreigners, mostly from Asian countries such as Japan, Malaysia, China and the Philippines, and some from Europe.
Most cannabis stores, including his, now only hire employees who speak English, the lingua franca of the industry.
“You don’t have to speak perfect English, but you have to be able to communicate with foreigners,” Thongwilai said.
About half of his clients are new cannabis users and most of them are Asians, he said.
Some want to try edible cannabis products, but Thongwilai said he is trying to steer them towards smoking.
“Edibles take longer to take effect, and during that time people can eat more and more, leading to an outrageous experience for beginners,” he said.
Not everyone is new to the drug, Thongwilai said, recalling a Malaysian customer who snuck away from a meal at a nearby restaurant with his wife and daughter. The man said he secretly smoked marijuana at home but had heard the Thai product was of better quality and wanted to try it.
“He bought the cheapest weed in our store and tried it in a mall, and then he came back and bought more,” Thongwilai recalls.
Not far from Thongwilai’s shop at Dutch Passion, a recently opened retail outlet of a Dutch seed distributor that has been operating for more than three decades, about half of the customers are also first-time users, said Theo Geene, a Dutch shareholder of the company.
Cannabis has been available in coffee shops in the Netherlands since the 1970s, and Geene said he has used his experience to train his staff in serving people unfamiliar with the drug.
“It’s not good for beginners to use a bong,” he said. “It’s too much for them. We don’t want anyone to pass out here.”
Most customers refused to talk about their experiences, with the Japanese tourist in Geene’s shop being the only one to agree – and only on the condition that his name not be used.
Most of the store’s Asian customers are similarly discreet, choosing to smoke their purchases indoors rather than on the street, as many Westerners do, which is common practice but a violation of Thai regulations, Geene said.
“They are more cautious and more afraid,” he said. “They don’t want to be seen smoking weed.”
Before embarking on his trip to Thailand, the 42-year-old Japanese tourist said he had done extensive online research and found that while customs officials might randomly check bags and luggage for marijuana smuggled into Japan, no testing was done in agreement with the government. policy.
Since his first hit two weeks ago, he has been smoking every day, visiting different shops, comparing prices and trying different strains.
Pharmacy staff taught him how to grind buds and roll a joint, and he’s had a lot of fun perfecting the technique.
“I practice it every day,” he said, looking down at the joint he was rolling and repeating the word “practice” twice before bursting into laughter.
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David Rising contributed to this story.
