Thailand: correct prescription, premises and hemp rules, add 9 history entries

Thailand's cabinet approves a medical-only cannabis billdraft Cannabis Control Act

2025-06-2526

Thailand goesmakes cannabis flower prescription-only

Three years after removing cannabis from its narcotics list, Thailand reclassified the flower as a controlled herb from 26 June 2025. Buying or possessing itSale now requires a PT 33 prescription, from a Thai-licensed practitioner for up to 30 days; the notice regulates sale and thousandslicensing, not simple possession. Thousands of dispensaries havelater closed rather than convert to medical premises.

Thailand became the first Asian country to decriminalise. Possessing and growing the plant stopped being offences, home growers only had to register through an app, and thousands of dispensaries opened within months. No law regulating the new marketA controlled-herb notice followed in November 2022, but no comprehensive Cannabis Act did.

2022-0406

Thailand's cannabis dispensaries start tradingspread after delisting

Cannabis dispensaries began operating two months before theAfter cannabis flower was taken offremoved from the narcotics list. In May on 9 June 2022, dispensaries spread quickly across Bangkok and the tourist provinces. The government had announced in May that it would give away a million plants to households, and the first legal shops followed the delisting.

Thailand legalisesopens a licensed medical cannabis route

South Korea legalises medicalallows imported cannabis medicines

Siam publishes its's Cannabis Act takes effect

2000-07-01

South Korea counts more than's 2023 drug arrests pass 20,000 drug offenders for the first time

A customs regulation in force from 17 June 2026 makes cannabis buds an offence to export without permission, with a 30,000 baht per kilogram fine and forfeiture alongside the Customs Act maximum of ten years and a 500,000 baht fine. From 17 June 2026 customs began treating cannabis buds as a fineable customs offence, with … rade: customs reported 37,210 kg seized in 3,309 cases between October 2025 and June 2026.

Removed from the narcotics list in 2022, creating thousands of dispensaries. Since June 2025 flower isFlower has been a controlled herb thatsince November 2022 and since June 2025 requires a prescription, and fromwhich narrowed the dispensary boom to medical supply. From 2026 shops must operate aslicences are limited to qualifying medical, pharmacy, herbal and cultivation premises with a practitioner on sitetrained staff. Recreational use is officially no longer permitted.

Since 26 June 2025 cannabis flower has been a "controlled herb", and lawful possession req … not simple possession, and the 2025 notice regulates sale rather than possession.[@tilleke,dtam] The flower can be seized and the seller prosecuted. Extracts with more than 0.2% THC remain narcotics, with up to two years and a 40,000 baht fine for personal possession.[@tilleke]

tilleke, thaiger, dtam

Households may grow cannabis after registering throughwithout a permit, in any number of plants, under the Plookganja systemDTAM's 2026 guidance, but the harvested flower is a controlled herb and cannot be sold without a licence.[@tilleke,khaosoddtam] Commercial cultivation, processing and sale require a section 46 licence and certified cultivation standards; unlicensed cultivation or sale or processing carries up to one year and a 20,000 baht fine.[@tilleke]

tilleke, khaosoddtam

Smoking in public is an offence with a fine ofcarrying up to 25one month and a 2,000 baht fine, according to the DTAM's 2026 guidance.[@thaigerdtam] Smoking inside shopsa licensed cannabis shop is bannedprohibited by the 2025 notice and can bring licence sanctions of up to one year and 20,000 baht.[@thaigerdtam] Use is officially limited to medical purposes, in private.[@thaiger]

thaiger, dtam

label Public smoking · treatment civil · term Public smoking · prison 1 month · fine 250002000 · note Fine of upUp to 25one month and a 2,000 baht; use limited to medical purposes in private fine under DTAM's 2026 guidance

Shops still exist, but from 1 May 2026 only medical facilitieslicences are limited to qualifying hospitals, pharmacies, herbal-product retailers and traditionalbusinesses, extract licensees, folk healers' premises may sell and cultivation sites selling to a licensee, with a licensed practitionerat least one DTAM-trained staff member on site who issues the prescriptionduty.[@edgepremises26] Of more than 18,000 registered433 outlets at the end of 2025, over8,636 licences expired, 1,339 were renewed and 7,000297 closed during 2025 rather than renew, and authorities are moving against roughly 6leaving 11,000 unlicensed or expired outlets136.[@khaosodstraits26] AThe cabinet approved a draft Cannabis and HempControl Act that would restrict cannabis strictly to medical use finished public consultation in June 2026.[@nation] The Cabinet approved the bill on 22 September 2026 and sent it to parliament; it would also make growers register their plantations and raise penaltieshad not passed by late October.[@nation,edge]

edge, khaosod, nation, premises26, straits26

openmedical

Licences for cultivation, processing, export and sale are available, but growers supplying dispensaries must meet certifiedthey are limited to medical, pharmacy, herbal and cultivation operators rather than an adult-grade standardsuse market.[@premises26] Extracts above 0.2% THC remain Category 5 narcotics, with licensees restricted to Thai juristic persons, government agencies and the Thai Red Cross and old licences are now limitedrunning to healthcare-type businesses31 December 2026.[@khaosod,tillekeextract26]

khaosodpremises26, tillekeextract26

stricthigh

Hemp fibre, stalks, roots,is defined as Cannabis sativa subsp. sativa with no more than 1.0% THC in its leaves and seeds sit outside the narcotic list, but hemp flower is regulated separately from fibre and the 2025 controlled-herb notice covers cannabis flowerinflorescence.[@tilleke] No general low-Hemp extracts above 0.2% THC flower exemption was verifiedremain Category 5 narcotics, while CBD products below that line may be sold as registered food, cosmetics or herbal products.[@tilleke] Commercial processing and commercial growing still needs a licenceextraction need licences.[@tilleke]

The Land Traffic Act punishes driving while impaired by alcohol or another intoxicant, including cannabis, with up to one year and a 5,000 to 20,000 baht fine, plus licence suspension.[@traffic] Extracts above 0.2% THC remain narcoticsAll intoxicants, so driving after using them fallsincluding cannabis and extracts, fall under the same provision; there is no separate narcotics-driving provisionoffence in the traffic law.[@traffic] There is no per-se THC limit, and police lack an approved testing protocol, so enforcement turns on observed impairment.[@traffic]

A 2025 law-firm guide lists cannabis and hemp plantsPlants, seeds and unprocessed parts other than the flowers as deregulatedflower sit outside the narcotics list, so domestic possession and trade are not narcotics offences; only the flower is a controlled herb.[@tg25] Importing seedwhole plants, cuttings and unprocessed parts is governed by theprohibited, while seed imports follow Department of Agriculture's and quarantine rules.[@tg25] The guide does not address theDomestic clone sale of live plantsis not specifically addressed.[@tg25]

Tourists are held to the same rule as residents: since June 2025 cannabis flower may be bought, held or used only with a prescription from a licensed Thai medical professional, for at most 30 days' supply, and recreational use is illegalforeign prescriptions are not accepted.[@tat2025,dtam] The tourism authority tells visitors to buy only through authorised channels and warns t … public order or good morals, and introduces the possibility of re-entry bans.[@newland26]

tat2025, tat25, euronews25, newland26, dtam

Thailand DTAM — medical cannabis questions and answers (2026) Thailand — Ministerial Regulation (No. 2) B.E. 2569 on cannabis premises, 30 April 2026 The Nation — Thailand's 2026 cannabis extract regulation (26 March 2026) Straits Times — Over 7,000 cannabis shops in Thailand close (2026) 13 unchanged