THE WEEK THAT WAS Thailand’s liberal ganja attitude tears up SE Asian rulebook - kingdom set to kick tourism butt!

[webfact]

 

OPINION | by Rooster

 

Thailand’s extraordinary decision to, if I may update The Bard, “legalize ganja in one fell swoop” has stolen a march on the country’s stuffy neighbors in SE Asia and the rest of the continent.

 

This could, in the fullness of time when pandemic angst is a thing of the past, drive tourism upwards at the expense of boring places like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Burma; most of these are little more than police states or run by armies or religious fanatics. 

 

Even more liberal democracies like Japan and South Korea are languishing in Thailand’s wake now that the Land of Smiles is back on the tourism track, ready to reclaim its rightful number one ranking and maybe even be called the Land of the Munchies, thanks to delicious food that knocks the competition for six.

 

This columnist is very proud to once again say, I’m an honorary Thai in the best country on earth.

 

Now, I’m not saying that every tourist will be coming to Thailand to get stoned or even care about the news. But the full legalization that came in on June 9th has reignited the feelgood factor about Thailand, rekindled that feeling from the 70s, 80s and 90s when travellers came here for the laissez-faire attitude to sex, drugs and rock and roll inspiring legions of the well-heeled to follow suit and ultimately rather spoil things. 

 

Thailand needs to get back to its roots, reclaim the name of “Land of the Free” that guidebook phrase of note. The kingdom doesn’t have to ditch its upmarket feel, just remarket its Amazing Thailand image. Nudge nudge, wink wink. 

 

After all, doesn't Elon Musk enjoy a good spliff? Wouldn’t 60 somethings with a wedge in their back pockets not be encouraged by having a pre-rolled joint on their Banyan Tree balcony? I’m betting they would and the Thais don’t even need to shout about it - let social media be the driver. It’s driven Thailand down, now it can take her up again like a phoenix rising from the ashes, as it were. 

 

Or maybe just encourage vaping of weed - a far better and less annoying way to consume the greatest herb known to man. 

 

This week on ASEAN NOW most every Thai embassy in the region was warning travellers from Thailand not to carry cannabis or even hemp products in their carry-on to the neighbors.

 

 

Singapore could put a noose around your neck - two if you put chewing gum on the sidewalk - and Indonesia’s mullahs will have you swabbing out the Denpasar Hilton for the rest of your natural span. Seoul said welcome to a five year stay then deportation and Japan will throw away the key for a decade! Konnichiwa!

 

Meanwhile, lots of warning signs have gone up at Aranyaprathet to stop weed smuggling to Cambodia. Expect expats who live there to be beating a path to Thailand’s peaceful and pleasant climes where every June 9th should be a national holiday.

 

Call it “Freedom Day”. 

 

Myanmar? Well I won’t even use that name - it’s Burma until the junta stop killing everyone and as for Malaysia…. take a good book because it closes at 8.30 pm and wakes you up at 5.30 with some moaning from a minaret. No thanks. 

 

 

Epitomizing this new optimism was a charming story about “Dave” a Thai weed seller in Khao San Road. The authorities who bumped him off the street - including the chief of Chana Songkran nick - were at pains to point out the only reason he couldn’t roll tourists a joint was because he didn’t have a permit to sell anything. 

 

He promised to get one and was saluted on his way to the district office to apply. 

 

In Samut Prakan a taxi driver was found with Korean soju in his cab and a bong. Naughty, naughty. But while such mischief should be frowned upon by what the Thai press call “chauffeurs”, doesn’t it also make one smile, reminding us of that bygone era when the Thais stuck two fingers up to the world and said “whatever, we’re free you’re not”.

 

Certainly there were a huge amount of amusing stories this week that pointed to the fun that Thailand represents - Thai Rath even noted that tourists were dribbling back to Chiang Mai again. Brilliant.

 

Lottery fever was rife with a viper “crawling into a Thai man’s Yaris” - ooh er missus! Snakes in Surin were making out outside without the need for a curtain hotel, those wonderful establishments that abound throughout Thailand, cheap and thankfully very well insulated. 

 

Nat - Thailand’s foremost porn star - is now planning on being a knockout in the Muay Thai ring. Remember her on again, off again relationship with ageing yankee Harold, such a staple in Thai Visa days? Pattayans were drooling at the prospect of a cougar catfight, possibly featuring mud dredged up from the pipes leading to the ocean.

 

 

The dead were also playing their part in making Thailand happy. A Khon Kaen temple was offering free coffins and joss-sticks with a white sheet to wrap gran thrown in. 

 

A foundation worker in Chiang Rai went one better, kindly delivering a corpse strapped to his back while he rode a motorcycle out of the woods. 

 

Even in death Thailand knows how to appreciate people and go the extra mile to alleviate suffering.

 

 

Even the political news was touched with a Thai titter. Chuwit - the go to person for all that is scurrilous in the Thai press - called a casino bust in Rachada “window dressing” ahead of the no confidence debate. 

 

The debate may have to do without Anutin. He tested positive for Covid despite having enough jabs to turn his arms into pin cushions. The vax trolls came out of the woodwork and unpleasant forum curmudgeons thought it was funny and “reminded” us about the health minister's “dirty farang” comment way back when.

 

 

Move on people, Lord Anutin has outdone Prayut in returning happiness to the people via his weed policy! I won’t hear a word said against him unless he changes course. Anutin for PM!

 

Then we were told that Thailand has at least three long weekends next month. Time off, schools out, only the odd day booze free..

 

What’s not to love in magical Thailand! (They will be inviting positive Rooster to TAT events with Richard Barrow soon…)

 

In international news UK socialite and filthy madam Ghislaine Maxwell was jailed for 20 years for peddling minors to Jeffrey Epstein. Well done to the US court.

 

In London, SW 19, no one was surprised when it started raining on Monday for the start of Wimbledon. Local hopes Murray and Raducanu were dumped out early. As a kid brought up in nearby Beckenham I invariably went to the tennis but ever since Cliff Richard started singing in the rain - as well as other jingoistic excesses - you need a sickbag if you’re British. 

 

In the Philippines “Bongbong” Marcos was sworn in as president. Expect this reincarnation of the dictator to bangbang your head in if you so much as think about getting your bongbong out in Manila. 

 

In France the only surviving member of the terror cell that committed the atrocities that killed 130 in 2015 received a rare full-life sentence. Please also tattoo his forehead with “In Memory of Charlie Hebdo” and tie him next to a mirror. 

 

In Ukraine the war rumbled on with the US still believing that Putin wants to capture most of the country and the UK reportedly providing an extra billion quid in military aid and even training Ukrainian soldiers with the help of New Zealand troops on Salisbury Plain. 

 

With Ukraine's EU membership being fast-tracked and Sweden and Finland wanting to join NATO, the political landscape is more worrying than the fighting. Remember the Cuban missile crisis, anyone?

 

Back in Thailand Rooster finally had a screw. Not that one was loose or that Mrs R was accommodating, no, this was an implant wedged into my jawbone in a one and a half hour operation in the dentist’s chair. Only two more visits before I’m done and the total bill for a forward molar will be 40,000 baht after a few charges were added. Posters asked me for a recommendation and I have no hesitation in saying go to Lisa. A reminder that Thailand has top notch dental care even in the suburbs. 

 

 

In Jomtien things got serious at the Sattahip end of Pattaya (now fenced off!) where the authorities cleared the sands of the pesky vendors. This brought out dozens of curmudgeons who will moan about anything.

 

I know it’s mostly at night but I can’t stand those ghastly deckchairs and pestering sellers on Thai beaches. It’s enough to put me off going to the beach at all and staying by the hotel pool. Hua Hin is just as bad with ponies dropping their pooh on the sand. 

 

Clear ‘em all out and allow vaping. 

 

 

The same also goes for the thieving ladyboys on the main drag in Pattaya. While probably not all Indian tourists are as pure as the driven snow when it comes to reports about theft of necklaces, many don’t deserve the racist press they get in comments on the site. Rooster was also not sure about ASEAN NOW’s post of a man from the sub-continent dripping in gold, though many including Indians saw the funny side. 

 

 

Another welcome sight in Thailand after a long Covid hiatus was the sight of prison chain gangs back clearing the drains. It was one of the first things I even noticed in Thailand in my early days - that and people standing up for children on public transport.

 

Lovely and most apposite. 

 

 

Finally, the delightful festival of Phi Ta Khon is taking place in Dan Sai district of Loei this weekend. 

 

Locals dress up as colorful ghosts and parade through the town in one of Thailand’s one-of-a-kind and unmissable events. Make a trip if you can, you won’t regret it.

 

Yet another reason why Meuang Thai is Number 1.

 

Rooster

 

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-07-02

 

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[jvs]

Welcome to Thighland!

[Bkk Brian]

Fantastic drink driving in Thailand is of epidemic proportions now we can add driving while under the influence of ganja. There's me thinking they wanted to reduce road deaths.

Edited July 2, 2022 by Bkk Brian

[morrobay]

Only  a Thai could have written this.

[Henryford]

Sure it will increase tourism from the back packing potheads but any decent tourists will avoid Thailand like the plague.

[Jerno]

Thailand best country in the world? Oh Puh-Lee-zz!  Try Canada....already 2.5 years of legal recreational cannabis across the board.  And a country with a genuine Democracy, not fake illegal one created in Thailand by the Pray-hoot coup. 

[ezzra]

35 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Fantastic drink driving in Thailand is of epidemic proportions now we can add driving while under the influence of ganja. There's me thinking they wanted to reduce road deaths.

Bite you tongue when criticising the Liberal use of ganja in this forum or you'll invoke the wrath  of some of the members here who are staunch supporters of this country being over run with pot heads tourism.. (yeah, you know who you're)...

[Olmate]

Opinion piece!  Says it all really.

Edited July 2, 2022 by Olmate

[head bender]

5555 Beckenham is no where near Sw19. I had to lauff.

 

[Gecko123]

I think there's a perception out there that driving while high isn't particularly dangerous and your chances of being caught are pretty low. Haven't seen much, if any, traffic safety education to prepare people about these risks. I'm especially worried about traffic related injuries and deaths among younger people and those experimenting for the first time who aren't familiar with side effects such as dilated pupils and reduced reaction time. Wonder what the traffic stats are going to look like this time next year in Thai stick land?

Edited July 2, 2022 by Gecko123

[Denim]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

This columnist is very proud to once again say, I’m an honorary Thai in the best country on earth.

 

 

As an former smoker I have only one complaint to make.

 

Enough going on about it already. Bla bla bla. Just smoke it and stop parading it around all the time.

 

It's like the UK prior to Brexit. All you got 24/7 was Brexit Brexit Brexit. Lets find a new thing to go on about. How about um......bar girls !!! Not had that for a week or so.

 

[MyFriend You]

2 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Fantastic drink driving in Thailand is of epidemic proportions now we can add driving while under the influence of ganja. There's me thinking they wanted to reduce road deaths.

But now instead of fighting the cops after a drunk driving accident, they will roll out of the car saying "Wow, Far Out Man, What a Ride"   Peace

[BostonRob2]

2 hours ago, head bender said:

5555 Beckenham is no where near Sw19. I had to lauff.

 

It's a 2 quid trip on a tram these days, always been very close ????

 

Rooster 

[John Drake]

2 hours ago, Olmate said:

Opinion piece!  Says it all really.

But better than a Michael Bridge "opinion."

[2baht]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

Bite you tongue when criticising the Liberal use of ganja in this forum or you'll invoke the wrath  of some of the members here who are staunch supporters of this country being over run with pot heads tourism.. (yeah, you know who you're)...

Quick.....call the police!

[morrobay]

"Honorary" Thai. How many butts does a foreigner  have to kiss for that. Case in point. 

[Gilligan In Drag]

Except that they haven't legalized ganja in one fell swoop. There will be new laws in three months or so but in the meantime there are none, the old laws were cancelled, so yes you can grow it smoke it in private no problem for now. That isn't legalization. Like anyone I'm surprised anything happened at all, but  you know how conservative the people who run the country are, so I don't think its going to be legal at the end of this, legal ganja in Thailand  seems to me to be a complete non-sequitor. But truly  hope I am wrong about that, seems sensible to me that people need to learn to regulate their own behavior and their family's behavior, it invites the goverment in to run your life and they are wholly incapable of doing that, only you know what you need and what works for you, not some disinterested law makers who in most cases have little idea of their own well-being let alone yours.

[Bday Prang]

3 hours ago, Henryford said:

Sure it will increase tourism from the back packing potheads but any decent tourists will avoid Thailand like the plague.

As usual the prohibitionists can't help themselves   I have still not heard what your description of a "decent" tourist comprises of.

Please enlighten us    Presumably it is people just like you ?

[Bday Prang]

2 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

But now instead of fighting the cops after a drunk driving accident, they will roll out of the car saying "Wow, Far Out Man, What a Ride"   Peace

"wow far out man"   Are you actually serious ?   For once in my life words actually fail me  I am literally speechless.!! 

[madmitch]

I think Rooster must have been stoned when writing those first rew paragraphs!

 

 

[peter zwart]

I just love this country. 

[Bim Smith]

"The land of Munchies" hahaha brilliant. This post was brought to you by Pizza Hut.

[paulikens]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Then we were told that Thailand has at least three long weekends next month.

three long weekends???   as far as i know its two. how is it three? 

[steven100]

I thought they wanted quality tourists ....not quantity .

 

These Thai authorities change their minds more than I change my jocks.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 2, 2022 by steven100

[Shocked farang]

Elon Musk does not enjoy a spliff. 

Does he look or sound like a pothead to you? 

He was on a radio show and the guy interviewing him was a pothead and started to smoke a spliff, so the did only one drag, just to be nice. He has too much gray matter between his ears to be a pothead. 

[sambum]

6 hours ago, Henryford said:

Sure it will increase tourism from the back packing potheads but any decent tourists will avoid Thailand like the plague.

So if you smoke pot you are "indecent"?

[Dont confuse me]

"Honorary Thai" I certainly wouldn't use that label let alone brag about it!

Stop remove the rose tinted glasses and have a close look at who/what your associating yourself with!

 

[sambum]

15 minutes ago, Shocked farang said:

Elon Musk does not enjoy a spliff. 

Does he look or sound like a pothead to you? 

He was on a radio show and the guy interviewing him was a pothead and started to smoke a spliff, so the did only one drag, just to be nice. He has too much gray matter between his ears to be a pothead. 

 "just to be nice"? Elon Musk? Was that not the guy who called a cave rescuer "a pedo guy" because he said that his (Musk's) "minisub" was not suitable for the job?

Edited July 2, 2022 by sambum

[RichardColeman]

Thailand’s liberal ganja attitude tears up SE Asian rulebook

 

Personally speaking, I do not think that is anything to be proud of

[Chopinbkk]

7 hours ago, Henryford said:

Sure it will increase tourism from the back packing potheads but any decent tourists will avoid Thailand like the plague.

Biggest nonsense posted here on this subject. I am 67, with 2 condos in BKK, not a back packer but no A. Musk either 5555.