An English translation of the full draft legislation is available here:

New Draft Thai Cannabis Legislation – June, 2024 – English Translation

Below is a short summary of the key points in the proposed legislation:

General Provisions

• The Minister of Public Health oversees the Act’s implementation and can issue ministerial regulations/announcements.
• Criteria will be set for advertising, licensing processes, registration fees, etc.

Cannabis Committee

• A “Cannabis and Hemp Committee” will be established to set policies, make recommendations to the Minister, announce THC limits, etc.

Principles and Reasons

• The Act aims to establish a legal framework for regulating marijuana and hemp, which are not defined as narcotics under previous laws. This opens up opportunities for medical, research and industrial uses.

Requesting Licenses

• Licenses are required for producing, importing, exporting or selling cannabis/hemp products.
• License validity: Planting – 3 years, Extraction – 3 years, Import/Export – 3 years, Sales – 3 years

License Fees

• Production (planting): 90,000 baht
• Production (extraction): 90,000 baht
• Import: 100,000 baht
• Export: 10,000 baht
• Temporary import/export: 20,000 baht
• Sales: 5,000 baht
• Renewal fees are half of the original license fee.

Household/Personal Cultivation

• For household/personal cultivation, notification to the registrar is required instead of a license.
• The notification receipt is valid for 1 year.

Advertising

• A separate license is required for advertising cannabis products.

Enforcement

• The Minister can appoint officials to enforce the Act.
• These officials have authority to enter and inspect production sites, imports/exports, sales venues, vehicles, seize products/evidence, issue orders, etc.
• The officials have the same legal powers as officials under the Criminal Code when enforcing this Act.

Penalties

• Producing, importing, exporting or selling without a license: Up to 3 years imprisonment and/or 300,000 baht fine
• Unlicensed imports/exports: Fine of 5 times the value imported/exported
• Selling to prohibited persons like underage, pregnant, etc.: 30,000 baht fine
• For the first 5 years, cannabis can only be imported for research/medical/government purposes.

Transition Provisions

• Cannabis products formulated under previous regulations will be considered herbal products under this new Act.
• Existing licenses issued under previous laws will remain valid until expiration under this new Act.

Feedback on the proposed legislation can be provided to the government here:

https://law.go.th/listeningDetail?survey_id=Mzc0OERHQV9MQVdfRlJPTlRFTkQ=