What is it like smoking marijuana as a tourist in Thailand? Weed dispensaries everywhere on a Phuket trip with a difference
- Thailand recently decriminalised marijuana for medical or industrial use, and although recreational use is still illegal, cannabis shops have popped up all over
- On a recent visit to Phuket, the Post investigated the new trend, visiting dispensaries, talking to tourists and workers, and sampling the goods
In June, Thailand’s military junta did something so out of character, it seemed like a joke. The Buddhist kingdom that until recently had had one of the strictest drug laws in the world became the first country in Asia to decriminalise possession of cannabis for medical and industrial uses.
Officially, Thailand has not yet decriminalised recreational marijuana use. Anyone caught enjoying the product without a doctor’s note can be imprisoned for up to three months.
Unofficially, though, Thailand has become the Amsterdam of the East, with thousands of recreational weed dispensaries now trading in the country.
Much has been written about the development and how it affects public health, taxation, investment and foreign relations in Thailand. But what is it like for a tourist who just wants to get stoned? Can you really buy weed anywhere? And are people getting arrested for it?
I flew to the resort island of Phuket to find out.
A red-light district on Phuket’s west coast, Patong appears to be the perfect place to conduct my research. Google Maps shows about half a dozen dispensaries within walking distance of my hotel. The nearest, The Smokey Monkey Cannabis Shop, is literally across the road from it.
