Thailand’s cannabis sellers say US growers are eating their lunch

[webfact]

Thailand decriminalised cannabis last year in a bid to cash in on the lucrative industry [Vijitra Duangdee/Al Jazeera]

 

Local cannabis growers say their business is being undercut by cheaper illegal imports from overseas.

By Vijitra Duangdee

 

Bangkok/Pattaya, Thailand — Nearly a year after Thailand decriminalised cannabis amid promises of an economic bonanza, Thai growers and sellers say they are being undercut by illegal imports from the United States that sell for a fraction of the price of homegrown buds.

 

Thailand struck cannabis from its list of banned narcotics in June 2022 after a high-profile campaign by Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to establish the kingdom as a global hub for cannabis for medical purposes.

 

But Thailand’s parliament has yet to pass a long-awaited cannabis bill, leaving the regulatory framework for the industry in limbo.

 

Local businesses say foreign money is filling the gap, with many dispensaries across the country pushing low-cost cannabis imported illegally from the US.

 

Full story: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/5/8/thailands-cannabis-industry-says-us-growers-are-eating-their-lunch

 

-- © Copyright ALJAZEERA 2023-05-08

 

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[rabiedabruce]

The American growers are suffering a dearth of trimmers, same as all other employers. As to weed, all well and good but my small soi most other shops have been replaced by these bloody things. As usual here in Thailand, open the floodgates with no regulation and see what happens. Anyway, Dear Thais, stop with the whining.

[OneMoreFarang]

I see lots of shops in relative expensive areas selling weed. They wouldn't be in those places with high rent if they wouldn't make (relatively speaking) a lot of money. 

[bamnutsak]

From the linked story...

 

“A decent locally grown strain goes for 300 baht [$9] per gram but imports are only 150-180 baht [$4.50-5.30] per gram,” Prajya Aura-ek, a cannabis entrepreneur with several licensed dispensaries in Bangkok, told Al Jazeera.

 

I don't this this one single source for this factoid is accurate or worthy of publication.

 

 

 

“Each day we have brokers, both Thais and other nationalities — this is definitely a multinational business — coming into our shops trying to sell us imported weed. But we turn them all down.”

 

Call the Police.

 

 

[zib]

If a farm in the US can produce weed so cheap that it's cheaper than local grown even after imports and middle man cuts then the local weed is priced wrong and they are just greedy.

[SenorTashi]

3 minutes ago, zib said:

If a farm in the US can produce weed so cheap that it's cheaper than local grown even after imports and middle man cuts then the local weed is priced wrong and they are just greedy.

The prices were way too high in the beginning. I harvested a grow 3 months ago and tried to sell it but the price they offered me was so low that I decided to smoke it myself.

I've noticed that lots of ganja shops either have no customers now or they've closed down already. I suppose all of this is normal considering it's a new thing and it will all level off at some point. 

[Pink Mist]

 A trolling meme has been removed.

[BritManToo]

48 minutes ago, webfact said:

Bangkok/Pattaya, Thailand — Nearly a year after Thailand decriminalised cannabis amid promises of an economic bonanza, Thai growers and sellers say they are being undercut by illegal imports from the United States that sell for a fraction of the price of homegrown buds.

Would have thought the 3bht/gm brick from Laos would be of greater concern than the 500bht/gm flower from the USA.

[BritManToo]

31 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I see lots of shops in relative expensive areas selling weed. They wouldn't be in those places with high rent if they wouldn't make (relatively speaking) a lot of money. 

When you pretend to sell very small amounts of unregulated something for 500bht/gm, the opportunity for money laundering is immense. The shops only need 'pretend' customers.

[zib]

12 minutes ago, SenorTashi said:

The prices were way too high in the beginning. I harvested a grow 3 months ago and tried to sell it but the price they offered me was so low that I decided to smoke it myself.

I've noticed that lots of ganja shops either have no customers now or they've closed down already. I suppose all of this is normal considering it's a new thing and it will all level off at some point. 

Yes feels like that. An initial high hah. I don't know that the prices per gram was before when it was illegal but I get a feeling that they started with pricing it at the same level. Now the real price discovery is underway.

[SenorTashi]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

3bht/gm brick from Laos

where have you seen that? I used to pay 400 for 10 grams and that was decent quality. Then I got some for 300 once but that was rubbish.

[zib]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Would have thought the 3bht/gm brick from Laos would be of greater concern than the 500bht/gm flower from the USA.

I can't wrap my head around the risk and hassle to import it from the US so my thought is that it is from Laos and just stamped US. Either completely bogus or they take some seeds from some special US strain and grow it in Laos. 

[SenorTashi]

1 minute ago, zib said:

Yes feels like that. An initial high hah. I don't know that the prices per gram was before when it was illegal but I get a feeling that they started with pricing it at the same level. Now the real price discovery is underway.

750-1000 was the highest I saw and those are even higher than UK prices. The growers I know in England sell good quality for £10 a gram. Nobody should be paying any more than that imo. 

[connda]

What Mister Free Market is telling all of the growers is that the now abundant ganja is over-priced. 

[Trippy]

It can't be legal to Import weed from the U.S., so there should be a crackdown on The Thai Customs dept for taking bribes. 

Personally, I only buy directly from Thai growers, the shops are just a tourist trap.

[SenorTashi]

1 minute ago, Trippy said:

It can't be legal to Import weed from the U.S

I spoke to a couple of Thais in Chiang Rai who said they were legally importing US weed and they did have a lot of US strains. Maybe they just believed it was legal. 

[stoner]

don't be angry at the us growers. be angry at local officials and thai who are importing it. 

 

it is your fellow countrymen who are selling you out. 

 

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, SenorTashi said:

where have you seen that? I used to pay 400 for 10 grams and that was decent quality. Then I got some for 300 once but that was rubbish.

All over facebook groups.

But all in Thai.

[Captain Monday]

14 minutes ago, SenorTashi said:

I spoke to a couple of Thais in Chiang Rai who said they were legally importing US weed and they did have a lot of US strains. Maybe they just believed it was legal. 

No idea but I thought even the US interstate trade was illegal? From what I read few US banks will accept deposits from cannabis industry as it is Federally illegal. No pilot on a US registered aircraft can knowingly allow it to be carried and people in safety sensitive occupations subject to DOT testing cannot use it.

 

§ 91.19 Carriage of narcotic drugs, marihuana, and depressant or stimulant drugs or substances.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no person may operate a civil aircraft within the United States with knowledge that narcotic drugs, marihuana, and depressant or stimulant drugs or substances as defined in Federal or State statutes are carried in the aircraft.

(b) Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to any carriage of narcotic drugs, marihuana, and depressant or stimulant drugs or substances authorized by or under any Federal or State statute or by any Federal or State agency.

https://www.nata.aero/data/files/safety 1st documents/flitebag/flitebag q2 2014.pdf

 

[ChaiyaTH]

I thought it was already illegal to import cannabis end products to Thailand, but it has to be for sure. 

[Mickmouse1]

How come THEY ARE EATING YOUR LUNCH & CUTTING YOUR PRICES? WHO IS ENCROACHING ON WHO??? 

IF YOU want to jump on the bandwagon then have the gut to compete and stop whinging. 

[curtklay]

Thais think competition is unfair.

[Burma Bill]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

But Thailand’s parliament has yet to pass a long-awaited cannabis bill, leaving the regulatory framework for the industry in limbo.

Maybe after the General Election, it will be criminalised again by a new parliament!

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand struck cannabis from its list of banned narcotics in June 2022 after a high-profile campaign by Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to establish the kingdom as a global hub for cannabis for medical purposes.

For medical purposes?

[d4dang]

3 hours ago, zib said:

If a farm in the US can produce weed so cheap that it's cheaper than local grown even after imports and middle man cuts then the local weed is priced wrong and they are just greedy.

isn't the US  weed smuggled?

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Local businesses say foreign money is filling the gap, with many dispensaries across the country pushing low-cost cannabis imported illegally from the US.

So how is it being "illegally imported"... are customs not doing their job?

[d4dang]

21 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

Maybe after the General Election, it will be criminalised again by a new parliament!

unless they get paid enough not to......big bucks already invested

[bwanajohn]

The government needs to put  100% tax on foreign weed like they did coffee beans .

Then they can have another domestic industry that never evolves to compete internationally.

I find most of the bud here is old and stale probably due to poor handling.

 

[ukrules]

5 hours ago, zib said:

If a farm in the US can produce weed so cheap that it's cheaper than local grown even after imports and middle man cuts then the local weed is priced wrong and they are just greedy.

Yes, this is the problem.

 

They're selling it 100's of times more expensive than it should be. It's just a plant.

[n00dle]

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Would have thought the 3bht/gm brick from Laos would be of greater concern than the 500bht/gm flower from the USA.

read the story. The article claims Thia weed is 300 baht and smuggled US weed is 150-180 baht per gram.

I am assuming those are wholesale prices. 

That said i found a weed supplier that does a sativa at 3 for 1000, and it is so potent im  terrified of it despite the fact that i am a lifelong smoker used to very high quality weed.