Cannabis in Thailand: what's legal now

The short version

Thailand decriminalized cannabis in 2022, and thousands of shops opened. In June 2025 the government reversed course. Cannabis flower is now a controlled herb, and buying it is only legal with a prescription written in Thailand. Many shops are still open and some still sell over the counter, but that doesn't make the purchase legal. A bill approved by the Cabinet on September 22, 2026 would go further and limit cannabis to medical use. It still has to pass Parliament.

What's legal and what isn't

• Buying flower without a Thai prescription is illegal. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says visitors may buy and carry cannabis flower only with a prescription issued in Thailand by a licensed practitioner. TAT names Thai traditional medicine, Chinese medicine and dentistry among the fields that qualify. Foreign medical cards and prescriptions don't count.
• A prescription covers at most 30 days. Shops may only sell what's medically necessary, up to a 30-day supply.
• Recreational use was never legal. TAT's words: "What may have appeared tolerated in the past was never legally authorised."
• Smoking in public can bring a fine or jail. The Public Health Ministry treats public smoking as a nuisance, with up to three months in jail and a fine of up to 25,000 baht, the government said when cannabis was decriminalized in 2022.
• Shops have rules too. No sales online, from vending machines or through advertising, and none near temples, dormitories, parks, zoos or amusement venues. A shop that sells without a prescription faces up to a year in prison and a 20,000 baht fine, and can be closed, AP reported.
• Carrying cannabis across a border is trafficking. That's true leaving Thailand and arriving almost anywhere else, including the US, the UK and most African and Caribbean countries.

Why the street doesn't match the law

The shops didn't vanish when the rules changed. Their licenses run for three years and expire in stages through 2028, so many are still trading, and some still sell to anyone who walks in. An open door, a menu in the window or a "medical" sign tells you nothing about whether a sale is legal.

Enforcement is picking up. Khaosod English reported more than 1,200 shop inspections nationwide by June 2026, with tourist areas a focus. The Public Health Minister said in September 2026 that inspection teams would keep visiting shops in tourist centers and big cities. He also said the ministry's online map of registered shops and farms covers more than 95% of them, so a shop that isn't on it is presumed unregistered. Officers can enter an unregistered shop and make arrests.

The government is tightening further. After chairing the Narcotics Control Board on October 22, 2026, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said cannabis flowers and buds remain narcotics, and he told the Public Health Ministry to inspect licensed shops and revoke licenses where conditions are broken. Three days earlier, police and health officials seized more than five tons of cannabis buds from a rented house in Bang Khen, Bangkok. Officials said the operators held a license only for another province.

Arrests of travelers carrying cannabis out of the country are regular news, including four tourists caught at Phuket airport in July 2026, The Thaiger reported.

Who this affects

Anyone in Thailand who uses cannabis, or who gets asked about it by friends and family planning a visit. Visitors are most exposed: the rules changed after many travel guides were written, and the old "it's legal in Thailand" story still circulates.

What to do

• Don't treat an open shop as proof a purchase is legal. Without a Thai prescription, buying is illegal for you, whatever the shop does.
• If you use cannabis for a medical reason, see a licensed practitioner in Thailand and keep the prescription with the product.
• Don't smoke in public, including on beaches, at bars and outside your hotel or condo building.
• Never carry cannabis, edibles or vapes through an airport or across a border, in either direction.
• Tell visiting friends and family before they arrive. This is the one most people get wrong.
• Questions: the Food and Drug Administration hotline is 1556.

What's changing

The draft Cannabis Control Act, approved by the Cabinet on September 22, 2026, would limit cannabis to medical use with a doctor-signed prescription. It would register farms by size and location and set tougher penalties than today's rules. Shops that aren't medical facilities would have to meet the new requirements to renew their licenses, which the Public Health Minister said would mean having a doctor on the premises. He estimated more than half of shops would need to convert.

The bill goes to the House of Representatives next. No vote had been reported as of October 24, 2026. Separately, the Prime Minister said on October 22 that the government will propose tougher penalties for cannabis offenses through amendments to the narcotics law. We'll update this dossier, and say so in the brief, when either moves.