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Pot-smoking tourists not welcome in marijuana-friendly Thailand, says health minister Anutin Charnvirakul
- Two months after Thailand passed laws decriminalising cannabis, the country’s health minister discouraged tourists from visiting just to smoke weed
- Thailand’s cannabis policy has also drawn interest from regional neighbours like Malaysia, which is studying its use for medical purposes
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Thailand’s health minister on Wednesday discouraged tourists from visiting the country only to smoke weed, just two months after new laws were passed that have largely decriminalised the drug.
“We don’t welcome those kinds of tourists,” Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters when asked about recreational marijuana use among foreign visitors.
In 2018, Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to legalise cannabis for medical use. In June, the entire plant was decriminalised, leading to widespread recreational use.
Despite the government’s pleas against getting high, cannabis businesses with special smoking rooms have been a hit with locals and visitors.
But those smoking in public risk facing a three-month jail sentence or fines of up to 25,000 baht (US$705.82).
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