Thailand Cannabis Survival Guide: The Do’s & Don’ts of Weed in Thailand

So you’ve booked your plane tickets to Thailand after hearing the news that the Land of Smiles has now legalized cannabis (the first Asian country to do so!), giving you even more of a reason to gorge on massive amounts of Thai food.

That being said, here are a few things to keep in mind before arriving and during your trip here.

Before Arriving

• Don’t bring any weed on your inbound flight!
  The best we can do is draw parallels to the situation in the US, where though legal on a state-level, the TSA won’t appreciate you bringing in weed from an international flight if they find it. The situation is the same in Thailand, and possibly worse just because of the way things are “run” here, but avoiding Thai customs, who will have a field day with you if they find any form of weed, is the best course of action.

• Don’t overpack stoner-related drug store items
  Drug stores here, especially the ones in malls like Boots, will typically will have everything you need to alleviate the symptoms of smoking too much, including Visine for red eyes and OTC pain medications for the usual aches and pains.

• Do pack for the weather, its hot here

  Stating the obvious, but things get exceptionally uncomfortable here heat wise from around March to May and being both hot (and sweaty) and high just isn’t a fun, so plan accordingly.
  Shameless plug: if you’re coming during the Thai New Years, or Songkran (aka the Thai water festival), come check us out as we’ll be holding our 1st ever Songkran event with a ton of free giveaways, lucky draws and steep discounts on all products in store.

During Your Trip

• Don’t bring cannabis on domestic flights
  To be honest, there’s so much weed everywhere now in the country, especially in tourist areas like Phuket and Pattaya, that we see no reason to bring any with you if your flying in/out of Bangkok to any of these locations. Will a strategically placed joint placed inconspicuously in a carry-on arouse any suspicion? Probably not, but really, there’s no point when there’s another couple dozen dispensaries on whatever island your going.

• Don’t spark up in front of these fairly obvious places.
  You probably wouldn’t start smoking in front of a school or hospital in your home country, so extend the same courtesy here to avoid dirty looks from the locals. This same discretion should also apply at temples (you wouldn’t smoke in front of a church either etc.) and temples that double as tourist destinations (i.e. the Grand Palace) and really any where else locals congregate en masse.

• Do use discretion around town
  The idea of cannabis being legal after 80 something years of being illegal in Thailand makes for a curious, but wary population that has had very little exposure to what we refer to in the west as “cannabis culture”. This can also be a good thing, as all the negative stereotypes that exist around cannabis in the west really haven’t taken ahold here and if anything, the locals hold a fairly neutral view of the plant in general (it still is considered a part of traditional Thai medicine). That being said, for the future of cannabis staying legal in this country, please use responsibly and don’t give our politicians an excuse to revert back to how things were (it sucked, trust us).

Before Departing

• Don’t bring any weed on your outbound flight!
  Repeating the obvious from our first point, you don’t want any issues with Thai immigration or airport security - they’ll try to give you a hard time regardless of the legality. Glassware brought here may or may not attract suspicion depending on how hung over the X-ray machine operator is, but it'll definitely catch their eye, so buyer beware here (a bamboo bong may be easier to pass off as a souvenir, but your mileage may vary). That being said, smoke any leftovers at the airport smoking area outside on the sidewalks and safe travels!