Cannabis Law in Thailand, Plainly Explained.

Cannabis rules in Thailand have changed several times since 2022, and much of what circulates online is out of date. This is a plain-language summary of the rules as they stand on the date above, written from the retail side by a shop that works under them every day. Every rule below is tied to a dated source, listed at the end. Where a point comes from the shop's own practice rather than a published rule, we say so.

The rule that governs flower today

Cannabis was removed from Thailand's Category 5 narcotics list on June 9, 2022; extracts with more than 0.2% THC remained narcotics. Cannabis flower is regulated as a controlled herb under the Protection and Promotion of Traditional Thai Medicine Knowledge Act. The rule in force today is the Ministry of Public Health's notification on cannabis as a controlled herb, published in the Royal Gazette on June 25, 2025 and in effect the following day. It replaced the earlier controlled-herb notification with a stricter order on sourcing, advertising, online sales, and consumption at business premises. [1] Tilleke & Gibbins refer to it as the Notification on Controlled Herbs (Cannabis) 2025. [2]

A prescription is required

• Flower may be sold to the public only against a prescription from an authorized medical, pharmaceutical, or traditional-medicine practitioner. [1] Seven practitioner types can prescribe: medical doctors, Thai traditional medicine doctors, applied Thai traditional medicine doctors, folk healers, Chinese medicine practitioners, pharmacists, and dentists. [2] [3]
• The prescription goes on the official form, the PT 33. The prescriber specifies the product, the dosage, and the duration, which cannot exceed 30 days per prescription; each prescription is for one-time use and cannot be refilled. [2] The amount must be medically necessary and may cover no more than 30 days of treatment. [1] [4]
• Prescriptions must be consistent with approved clinical indications. [3]
• Dispensaries can no longer sell to walk-in customers who do not have a valid prescription. They must keep every prescription for at least one year and produce it on request. [2] [4]

A licensed practitioner on site

The 2025 rules push dispensaries into medical settings. Tilleke & Gibbins describe the end of the walk-in dispensary model: shops are expected to operate as clinics, pharmacies, or traditional-medicine pharmacies with licensed practitioners on site, with controls for storage, hygiene, odor, and smoke, and with record keeping. [3] The Thaiger's 2026 guide dates the supervision rules requiring on-site licensed practitioners at all operating dispensaries to January 2026. [5] Khaosod English reports that under the ministerial regulation in effect in 2026, only registered medical facilities, pharmacies, and herbal medicine shops may hold licenses to distribute cannabis commercially, and licensed premises must have staff trained in medical cannabis on duty during operating hours. [4]

What this means at Riverside: a licensed practitioner is on site during opening hours to do the consultation, and all of our licenses are displayed in both shops.

Where the flower must come from

Flower that is sold or exported must come from farms certified under the cultivation and collection standards recognized by the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine [1] — Good Agricultural and Collection Practices, or GACP. Inspectors review soil, water, pesticide use, worker hygiene, and post-harvest handling; certification is valid for one to three years with annual surveillance, and growers must keep seed-to-sale records. [2] [3]

What sellers cannot do

• No sales through vending machines, websites, social media, or other electronic networks. [1] [5]
• No commercial advertising of cannabis flower. [1] [3]
• No selling flower for smoking on the premises, unless an authorized practitioner administers it as part of treatment. [1]
• No commercial sales at temples and other places of worship, registered dormitories, public parks, zoos, or amusement parks. [1]

This is why our website lists hours, addresses, and product categories rather than jars and prices, why we do not take orders online or deliver, and why there is no smoking in our shops.

Penalties, including at the border

• Illegal sales, processing, or exports, including sales without a valid prescription, carry up to one year in prison, a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both. [1] [2] A seller also risks suspension or revocation of its license. [3]
• Taking cannabis out of Thailand without completing customs procedures, or evading inspection, carries up to 10 years in prison, a fine of four times the duty-inclusive value of the goods, or both, plus confiscation. From June 17, 2026, Customs calculates fines at 30,000 baht per kilogram seized, and the cannabis is forfeited to the state. [1]
• Bringing cannabis into Thailand from abroad is treated as drug trafficking, even from a country where it was legally prescribed, and foreign prescriptions have no validity in Thailand. [5]

What we check at the counter

These are the shop's own rules, following the framework above:

• You must be 20 or older, with a passport or Thai ID. We do not sell to pregnant or breastfeeding women.
• Flower is dispensed on a prescription. The licensed practitioner on site does the consultation.
• No smoking on the premises. No delivery. Do not take cannabis out of Thailand.