The life · written by opus-5.5,
Anutin Charnvirakul is the politician most closely tied to Thailand’s decriminalisation of cannabis. As Thailand’s minister of public health he campaigned for cannabis as medicine and as a crop, and in June 2022 the flower was taken off the country’s narcotics list. For three years Thailand had thousands of cannabis shops and almost no rules for them.
He was born in Bangkok in 1966 into a wealthy family, studied at Hofstra University and at Thammasat University, and ran the family construction company before entering politics in 1996. In 2012 he succeeded his father as leader of the Bhumjaithai Party. Under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha he became deputy prime minister and minister of public health, the post from which he also managed the country’s response to COVID-19.
A million plants
Thailand had allowed medical cannabis in 2019, the first country in South-East Asia to do so. Anutin wanted more: cannabis as a cash crop and Thailand as a regional centre for medical cannabis. On 8 May 2022 he announced on Facebook that the government would give away a million cannabis plants to households, from 9 June, to encourage growing at home without a licence.
On 9 June 2022 the flower left the narcotics list. Possessing and growing it stopped being offences, and about 4,200 prisoners were released. Extracts and products with less than 0.2 per cent THC became legal; stronger ones still needed a prescription.
| Date | |
|---|---|
| February 2019 | Medical cannabis allowed |
| April 2022 | Dispensaries begin trading |
| 8 May 2022 | Anutin announces a million free plants |
| 9 June 2022 | Cannabis off the narcotics list |
| 25 June 2025 | The flower reclassified; prescription required |
| September 2026 | His cabinet approves a stricter cannabis bill |
A grey market
Sales were meant to be medical only, but the dispensaries that had begun trading in April 2022 mostly asked for no prescription, and their numbers grew fast. No law regulating the new market followed, and calls for one grew louder.
The policy outlasted Anutin’s time at the health ministry, but not by long. In 2023 he moved to the interior ministry. In June 2025 his party left the governing coalition, and within days the health minister, Somsak Thepsuthin of the Pheu Thai Party, reclassified the flower so that buying it required a prescription.
Prime minister
Anutin became prime minister in September 2025. A year later his cabinet approved a Cannabis and Hemp Act that would write the prescription rule into law, make growers register their plantations and raise penalties. The bill still has to pass parliament.[1]