[imagesource: Pexels / Michael Morse]

Thailand is notorious for being one of the strictest countries in the world when it comes to drug offences.

South African Ashley Oosthuizen has been stuck in the Thai prison system for drug trafficking charges, having had her initial death sentence reduced to a life sentence (and further discounted to 33,4 years) last time we checked.

That is by no means a fate that any of us want to risk playing with upon visiting the South Asian country and smoking a little doobie.

Cannabis, considered a “less dangerous drug” by the UN, once carried the potential for a 15-year prison term but since Thailand delisted (parts of the marijuana plant) as a narcotic last year, it has confused if and how the recreational drug can be consumed in the country.

While cannabis cafes and weed dispensaries are popping up all over the show, the government amendments to the laws and continued debate about what should be permitted have been completely confusing.

Kitty Chopaka, an independent cannabis advocate based in Bangkok, reckons this has created a kind of “weed Wild West” where “no one really [knows] whether we have the correct information”, per The Guardian.

It is this confusing legislation that could easily land tourists in trouble.

However, Mandel Menachem at cannabis information hub High Thailand said that “as long as tourists follow a set of a few simple rules [according to the ministry of public health’s new guide] there’s nothing to fear”.

Take notes:

1. If you are not pregnant or breastfeeding and are older than 20, then you are legally allowed to consume cannabis.
2.  You can smoke inside your private residence and consume cannabis products at a licensed restaurant.
3. There is no limit to how much, but you cannot drive or encroach on others if doing so.
4. You cannot smoke marijuana in public places such as schools, temples, and shopping malls. If you do, you will be charged with a 25 000 baht (just under R13 000) fine and a three-month prison sentence.
5. You are advised to buy from reputable, licensed places: “There are more than 2,600 registered weed stores across the country, selling the cannabis flowers, pre-rolled joints, edibles with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level below 0.2%, infused foods and CBD oil.”
6. To grow cannabis, one must register with the country’s Food and Drug Administration.
7. Tourists cannot enter or leave the country carrying any part of the plant or its seeds.

The more you know, the safer you’ll be from the notorious Thailand prison system.

Travel safe, folks. Psychologically and physically, naturally.

[source:guardian]