Govt pharmaceutical agency officially opens first legal greenhouse to grow cannabis

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION 
PATHUM THANI

 

Grown inside a greenhouse of the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, these plants are the first legal batch of cannabis in Asean region.

 

THE COUNTRY’S first legal cannabis plantation was officially opened by Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) yesterday, as the authorities work toward developing cannabis-based medicines that are affordable for all patients.

 

 

Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn told the opening ceremony at Thailand’s first cannabis indoor farm that the country has now taken the first and crucial step toward developing Thailand’s own patented cannabis medicines.

 

Though the government recently legalised medical cannabis, until now the country has lacked recognised cannabis medicines of our own, he told the media at the GPO facilities in Pathum Thani’s Thanya Buri District.

 

“Five years period from now will be the decisive moment for our country to determine whether we were able to catch up with the advanced medical cannabis innovation and technology of other countries and the transnational pharmaceuticals giants, and enjoy cheap and widely accessible cannabis medicines. 

 

“Or did we fail to develop our own medicines from cannabis and have to rely on the foreign pharmaceutical firms for expensive imported cannabis medicines?” Piyasakol said.

 

 

“With our new indoor cannabis farm, invested in and operated by GPO, we can harvest high-quality medical grade cannabis,” he said. The harvested plants will be used by the GPO and its allied academic institutes to extract cannabis substrates to further medical research and produce affordable cannabis oil sublingual drops for patients.

 

 GPO managing director Withoon Danwiboon said the new indoor plantation is the first legal cannabis farm in Southeast Asia. It is equipped with advanced hi-tech closed-system aeroponics farming technology, as well as a high-security surveillance system. 

 

The technology will ensure the resulting crop meets the high medical-grade standard required to manufacture medicine from the plants.

 

Withoon said the GPO has invested Bt100 million in the project to construct the closed-system farming facility and to install the supporting system for a 100-square-metre indoor plantation.

 

“Because we need a very high quality and organic cannabis for our research and development, we have to spend a lot to create a closed environment farming facility,” he explained.

 

“This is to assure that our cannabis crop will be chemicals free and safe for producing medicines.”

 

 

Piyasakol cautioned that Thailand was far behind other countries and many transnational private pharmaceuticals companies in term of the medical cannabis innovation and technology. 

 

The future of the country and many patients who require cannabis-based medicine for their treatment, are at a great risk of monopolisation of the market and would suffer from very costly drugs, he said.

 

In order to avoid being a victim of monopolisation, it was very important for the authorities and all related agencies to swiftly invest in medical cannabis research and development, he emphasised. The next five years are particularly vital for the nation to develop its own medical cannabis innovations and fill the technological gap in cannabis medicine, Piyasakol said.

 

The amended Narcotics Act decrees that only official agencies and their partners are allowed to grow cannabis for producing medicines in the first five years after legalisation. The law aims to prevent private companies from taking over the cannabis farming business in Thailand.

 

The agencies, which are allowed to legally farm cannabis for medical purposes, will have to comply with strict security rules and meet very high standards to ensure an organic crop that can be used to create medicine.

 

The strict regulations for register a cannabis farm has already caused complaints from traditional Thai practitioners and some patients. But GPO deputy managing director Sirinuch Cheewanpisalnukul said that the agency was not monopolising cannabis farming, as other academic institutes are welcome partner with it to develop farming techniques and medicines.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30364919

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-02-28

"...Five years period from now will be the decisive moment for our country to determine whether we were able to catch up with the advanced medical cannabis innovation and technology of other countries and the transnational pharmaceuticals giants, and enjoy cheap and widely accessible cannabis medicines. 

 

Or did we fail to develop our own medicines from cannabis and have to rely on the foreign pharmaceutical firms for expensive imported cannabis medicines?” Piyasakol said..."

 

Sorry Thailand, it'll be the latter. The cold, hard truth is that Thailand does not have any decent universities, and thus does not have the high quality researchers needed to become a global leader in Cannabis based medicine.

 

However, Thailand CAN become the 'Green House' of Asia for quality weed and it CAN become the proverbial 'Hub' of medicinal/recreational weed for the entire continent; it is a huge and lucrative business opportunity.

 

Thailand could hugely increase the opportunity by going down the full legalization path, but it seems that it currently doesn't have the foresight to do so. Hopefully, the next government will have the courage and foresight to really see the upcoming opportunities.

 

Fortune favours the bold!

 

Looking at those photos ,you think they are splitting the atom.....

Will working for those greenhouses be on the "PROHIBITED JOB LIST" for foreigners?

 

Sure would like to make a career change and apply for one of these greenhouses.

The article's "100-square-metre indoor plantation" seems like an oxymoron. That's only an area ten-meters by ten-meters. Small garden, yes -- but a plantation, no.

Why the greenhouse,,,, it grows like a weed,,, I know

Being set up by the government who should have access to research and money they should have known that blurple LED's is something overpriced that doesn't perform near as good(especially in this case since i guess they would aim at high resin production) as Hps and the newer generation of led cobs and panels. 

 

 

Also that seedling being displayed has obvious symptoms of nutrient burn. 

Edited February 28, 20197 yr by Okis

Are they praying to the plants there ..

And its hardly rocket science growing weed .. Once the plants are up and running they just need the correct lighting schedule , water & nutrients and a fan to breeze them until they flower .. 

 

Even more amazing was the alleged cost of said greenhouse - 100 million baht. Now that there is some very expensive weed they are growing!

They need to put up a no vaping sign before it all gets out of hand????

On 2/28/2019 at 2:45 PM, jonclark said:

Even more amazing was the alleged cost of said greenhouse - 100 million baht. Now that there is some very expensive weed they are growing!

It’s an investment for the country and for the poor. I welcome it.

 

..things will tend to become more easily accessible. Rightly so, as they have been long before personal liberties were encroached on.

On 2/27/2019 at 8:30 PM, webfact said:

It is equipped with advanced hi-tech closed-system aeroponics farming technology, 

 

On 2/27/2019 at 8:30 PM, webfact said:

cannabis crop will be chemicals free

As they are not growing in soil but in clayballs they must use a fertilizer and most of the fertilizers available for this will include some non organic  elements so to say that the stuff produced will be chemical free is a little misleading .. 

Edited May 29, 20197 yr by Justgrazing
Sp