Buriram is a rural province where many farmers face economic hardships. (Photo: CNA/Jack Board)
By Jack Board
May 9 2023
BURIRAM, Thailand: The smell of the cannabis plants growing in the Thai summer heat fills the air before the crops can even be seen. They reach head height with burgeoning buds, ready for harvest.
It is a familiar aroma these days in Thailand, one that has emerged in the fields and on the streets.
In a rural patch in Buriram province in the northeast, local farmer Siwasan Khobjaiklang’s cannabis operation is modest in size. But even two years ago, such an enterprise could never have worked – at least legally.
There is nothing clandestine about this property. Siwasan is part of a community enterprise that is registered with the government and provides products for legal dispensaries around the country.
The farmers are young and keen to make their mark, and maybe a small fortune, in this new agricultural pursuit.
“If you ask me, marijuana is the highest-earning crop among all plants that can be grown by farmers. If you compare it, growing marijuana for one cycle earns more than 10 years of growing rice,” Siwasan said.
“It is not difficult to grow marijuana well in Thailand. Like every farming profession that grows rice and other things, we grow it to earn money to take care of our families, don’t we?”
While cannabis may now be legal, the issue is politically charged and has been used as a weapon in a heated election campaign. It has left those trying to build new businesses in a limbo.
Siwasan Khobjaiklang operates a cannabis farm in Buriram province. (Photo: Jack Board/CNA)
POLITICAL SPARRING OVER CANNABIS ISSUE
The legalisation of cannabis in Thailand last year – namely allowing its possession, cultivation, distribution, consumption, and sale – came hard and fast.
Throughout the country, especially in popular tourist cities, marijuana dispensaries have surfaced at a rapid pace. They are now ubiquitous in some areas, especially in the capital.
While recreational use of the drug is discouraged, it remains legal. And while people cannot smoke in public and there are age limit restrictions, among other rules, the industry has so far enjoyed freewheeling liberties to expand.
The national parliament was dissolved ahead of Thailand’s general election on May 14, before a Cannabis Act could be enacted.
With the drug usage widely uncontrolled, the issue has grown more divisive, politically and throughout the community.
It has sparked fierce political sparring in the lead up to this weekend’s election, with parties keen to differentiate themselves from one another to win over voters with strong opinions about cannabis.
While the majority of leading candidates are clear that more regulations are required to control the industry, how that looks and how it will be done varies.
Prime ministerial candidate for Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat, while open to cannabis being grown and used in a controlled fashion, wants it placed back on the narcotics list so it can be better controlled.
“We don’t support cannabis for recreational use. We don’t support a cannabis vacuum. We support cannabis that has control measures. We support cannabis for medical use. The benefits need to outweigh the harm in every aspect of this,” he said during a campaign rally this month.
“Put cannabis back on the narcotics list then exercise control so that it can create more benefits than harm.”
Pheu Thai Party – which has ambitions to form government – originally voted in favour of legalising cannabis but has turned its sights on tightening the drug policy during the campaign period.
“Pheu Thai Party does not want full cannabis legalisation. It is very clear. We do not want to join hands with any political party that supports the full legalisation of cannabis. We only want cannabis for medical purposes,” said Srettha Thavisin, one of the party’s leading prime ministerial candidates, during a televised political debate.
DEEP ROOTS IN THE NORTHEAST FOR BHUMJAITHAI PARTY
In Buriram, the political noise may seem distant but it reverberates. This province has – perhaps unwillingly – been anointed the cannabis capital of the country.
It was the Bhumjaithai Party, under the leadership of deputy prime minister and public health minister Anutin Charnvirakul that ushered in the legalisation of cannabis.
The party, which has existed since 2008, has its power base centred firmly in Buriram and is a product of the political influence of local tycoon Newin Chidchob.
In Thailand’s northeast, especially Buriram, the party has deep roots in the community, making it a formidable opponent for rival parties looking to make inroads in the Esan region.
Bhumjaithai won 51 seats in the previous election, becoming a junior but essential partner in the government coalition with Palang Pracharat Party and its then-leader Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The party is targeting to more than double its seats this time around, an outcome largely hinging on the momentum of the pro-marijuana policies it has successfully delivered. Still, Anutin has said that further controlling cannabis is a party policy.
“The Bhumjaithai Party does not support the recreational use of marijuana, which is why we have introduced laws to control the misuse of marijuana and support marijuana for medical, health and economic purposes,” he said in a letter addressed to his rival Srettha of Pheu Thai.
The party’s wider popularity this election could again give Anutin a powerful kingmaker role in a new government and potentially greater leadership opportunities.
With Bhumjaithai as a cannabis champion, the fate of the growers’ and sellers’ businesses in the Buriram region could hang on the party’s performance and post-election negotiating. – CNA
