Thailand expands its tourist offer with the incorporation of cannabis cafes

Maya Bay, Thailand's most famous beach in danger 0:57

(Reuters) --

Cannabis cafe RG420 opened just four days ago in Khao San, an area of ​​Bangkok popular with backpackers, and is already packed with customers.

Since Thailand decriminalized marijuana in June, a few weeks before Covid controls for foreign visitors were lifted, several such establishments have sprung up across the capital.

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Foreign arrivals have shrunk from nearly 40 million in 2019 to 2 million in the first half of 2022, and RG420 owner Ongard Panyachatiraksa and others like him see their cafes as central to efforts to revive a tourism industry. which contributed about 12% of GDP before the pandemic.

Thailand has a new offer for tourists: cannabis cafes.

Panyachatiraksa says that hundreds of people have visited the cafe every day, and that he plans to open more.

"Europeans, Japanese and Americans are looking for the Thai sativa," Ongard told Reuters, referring to a strain of cannabis.

"Cannabis and tourism are compatible."

Not everyone agrees.

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In 2018, Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize marijuana for medical use.

In June, the plant was decriminalized in its entirety.

This led to an explosion in its recreational use, something that government officials, concerned about the negative effects on health and productivity often linked to uncontrolled use of the drug, have tried to discourage.

"The law does not contemplate the recreational use of cannabis ... and that is why the promotion of tourism focuses on medical aspects," said the deputy governor of the national tourism authority, Siripakorn Cheawsamoot.

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The rejection of the way in which the new policy is interpreted has caused some confusion, and the authorities have resorted to the promulgation of partial regulations, such as the prohibition of smoking cannabis in public and its sale to those under 20 years of age.

A parliamentary committee is now debating a bill to regulate cannabis use that is expected to end in September and could affect cannabis cafes.

Akira Wongwan, a medical cannabis entrepreneur and one of the committee's advisers, said he expected recreational use to be subject to zoning laws.

Meanwhile, in the packed smoking room of RG420 - a reference to Rag Gan, a Thai expression meaning "love one another" - Briton Malik Khan has just finished rolling a joint.

"This country is beautiful, and there is also a lot to do here," says the 26-year-old.

"(Cannabis) adds to the scene very nicely."

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