Report Thailand to Require Medical Certificates for Cannabis Use Within 40 Days

[Teddy Boy]

They should never have legalised it in the first place, end of. 

[hotandsticky]

Just now, Teddy Boy said:

They should never have legalised it in the first place, end of. 

 

 

YAWN!

 

But they did.

[Satcommlee]

New industry for unqualified/unregistered traditional medicine practitioners, this is gonna be as regulated as Viagra!

 

 

[sambum]

Farcical! The medical certificate needed for an extension of visa by means of retirement means a visit to see a doctor at the local hospital who may or may not take your blood pressure, asks "How are you feeling today" and if you say "OK", you get your "Medical Certificate"!

 

[Thingamabob]

Good time to get into the medical certificate business.

[Bday Prang]

31 minutes ago, Teddy Boy said:

They should never have legalised it in the first place, end of. 

it should never have been illegal, end of

[whitfield]

Medical certificate for sale 500 baht, one off payment for life.  Time to think again. Either it's legal or it isn't. 

[baansgr]

54 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

YAWN!

 

But they did.

Pathetic

[hotandsticky]

6 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Pathetic

 

Wasn't it.

[PJ71]

2 hours ago, diveasia666 said:

havin' beers outside doesn't smell like sh*t (pun intended) Smoke stinks, whether from cigarettes or weed, simple as that.

I've acknowledged that the smell might not appeal to others, all i use is edibles.

[kingstonkid]

9 hours ago, PJ71 said:

You're obviously one of these people that has no idea about cannabis use.

 

Oh well...

 

Should we ban alcohol too?

Just like a lot of things people have abused the system. With all the people trying to smuggle it out to other countries Thailand has been forced to regulate to .take it harder for couriers

[jcmj]

Good luck. Even if they do get it done there’s no way all of the pot shops will stop selling to everyone. I guess a raid here and there, a few small fines and extra cash in the policeman’s wallet. 

[BritScot]

12 hours ago, StandardIssue said:

 

 

Not an April Fools Joke this time. Just call me the "Oracle" 🤣🤣

 

Seriously speaking, I could do without all the "lay abouts" and pot head tourists visiting Thailand. There is nothing more irritating than trying to take a nice walk on the beach and getting wafts of pot smoke and reek.

 

It is bad enough having a bunch of pay for play punters inundating the place. The fewer the addicted the better.

 

IHMO Thailand had enough problems with domestic vice. 

 

Tourist Sex addicts, drug addicts only make the problem worse IMHO.

You must be a hoot at parties. Maybe you should have stayed home and joined a monastery or moved into a temple to live your monastic life style. Live and let live.

[wombat]

 a weed thread certainly brings the bigot out of the closet, im impressed

[cardinalblue]

9 hours ago, simon43 said:

At my condo building in Jomtien, the outside balcony is unusable because of the pungent smell of cannabis, night and day.  The beach road (with families) also reeks of the stuff.  I for one, would be quite happy for it to be banned...

Maybe you chose the wrong place to live? You chose the wrong side of the RRtracks…always amusing of  guys  who speak of moral character with a Pattaya address 

 

Pattaya is nothing but a dirty beach dump and we shall go from there…

 

try Hua Hin or Trang if you want respectability 

[billd766]

4 hours ago, RSD1 said:

The only 2 salient points:

 

1 - Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s administration is proposing licensing mandates, though stopping short of an outright ban on recreational use, likely due to political pressure from Bhumjaithai. So the likelihood of any strict ban or penalties for recreational use still seems very low.

 

2 - Cannabis users or buyers must present medical certificates and prescriptions issued by certified medical professionals, including both traditional and general practitioners. Usage will be limited to specific medical conditions like epilepsy, insomnia, and chronic headaches.

 

So under the new framework, getting a valid medical certificate to continue using cannabis legally would just mean visiting any neighborhood clinic and paying (presumably no more than ฿500) for a medical certificate stating you suffer from chronic insomnia and headaches and require daily cannabis use. Done. Palava over.

 

To me, it sounds like another nothingburger. Just optics. The government wants to appear proactive against recreational use, but in practice, nothing really changes. Just a minor nuisance to get a one-time medical certificate, then back to business as usual.

Thank you for answering the question that I had not got around to asking.

 

Where do I get hold of one of these letters.

 

I only use the flowers for medicinal purposes.

 

Steeped in honey and boiling water as an infusion, left to cool, decanted into a 500ml plastic bottle then into the fridge, for me at least, it seems to ease the osteo-arthritis in my knees. It doesn't silence my nightly bladder alarm as I still wake up every 2 hours or so for a pee, but at 81 years old it is a small price to pay.

[KannikaP]

13 hours ago, blaze master said:

Got this today from one of my groups. Not official so take it for what it is. 

Can't read it, text too small, and long winded

[KannikaP]

2 hours ago, sambum said:

Farcical! The medical certificate needed for an extension of visa by means of retirement means a visit to see a doctor at the local hospital who may or may not take your blood pressure, asks "How are you feeling today" and if you say "OK", you get your "Medical Certificate"!

 

Never needed a medical to extend my stay re-Retirement.

[Magictoad]

13 hours ago, StandardIssue said:

 

 

Not an April Fools Joke this time. Just call me the "Oracle" 🤣🤣

 

Seriously speaking, I could do without all the "lay abouts" and pot head tourists visiting Thailand. There is nothing more irritating than trying to take a nice walk on the beach and getting wafts of pot smoke and reek.

 

It is bad enough having a bunch of pay for play punters inundating the place. The fewer the addicted the better.

 

IHMO Thailand had enough problems with domestic vice. 

 

Tourist Sex addicts, drug addicts only make the problem worse IMHO.

There are no "Drug addicts" as a result of the changes in the law. Cannabis Law Reform was a humanitarian gesture resulting in thousands of decent people being released from prison which has to be a good thing....Isn't it? If you don't like it you can always try North Korea.

[FriscoKid]

2 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

it should never have been illegal, end of

Alcohol and cigarettes kill people. Those are alright though, right?

[blaze master]

31 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Can't read it, text too small, and long winded

 

Zoom. 

[sambum]

47 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Never needed a medical to extend my stay re-Retirement.

 

One of those Immigration requirements that changes from Office to Office I guess! Our Office (as from a couple of years ago) also require a photo of you outside your house showing the house number!

[happydreamer]

To be honest, I never thought I'd say it but I wish they would regulate it.  In my opinion the quality of tourists declined right around the time they made weed legal to purchase at every street stall in Bangkok.  Ive smoked weed since I was 14 years old (I'm 50 now) but the types I see here getting stoned and about are amongst some of the lowest caste of the drug user society.  

 

I remember going to raves in the 90s and every once n a while you'd stumble upon groups of drug users and you'd notice that something about a particular group was more desperate or dire than just your happy go lucky weed smokers.  I see a lot of that here lately.  
 

[gk10012001]

I suspect that getting such a certificate will not be too difficult.  Probably get it from the same place you get your cialis prescription!

[captnhoy]

It reminds me of years ago that I needed a Dr. certificate for my extended visa. It cost me 200 baht and she produced it while I waited, never bothering the doctor and whatever he was up to in his office.

[NoDisplayName]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

announced a major regulation change requiring cannabis users to present medical certificates,

 

Will these be the same "medical" certificates required to apply for a drivers license?

 

"100 baht, sign here, buh-bye."

[Caldera]

I fully expect that those "medical certificates" will be sold by clinics just like they're already selling certificates for driving licenses, work permits, university admissions and whatnot - a useless paper shuffling exercise without any tangible benefit (other than to the clinics $$).

[kwilco]

It’s strange how there’s almost no real debate happening around cannabis legalisation in Thailand.
On one side, you’ve got people who support legalisation—and they’ve got solid reasoned arguments, e.g - medical benefits, economic boost, job creation, tax revenue, and taking the trade out of the black market. These arguments are backed by actual evidence and global examples.
Then on the other side, you mostly hear the same old prejudices - “Drugs are bad.” And that’s basically it. No real data, just outdated scare stories from the’70s and ‘80s that have been disproven over and over. It’s not a position based on facts—it’s based on fear, stigma, and moral panic and bigotry
Now comes the latest idea: that Thais and foreigners would need a “medical certificate” to use cannabis.
Seriously?
This would be funny if it weren’t so ridiculous. What does that even mean? A prescription? A doctor’s note? For what conditions? Nobody seems to know. There’s no proper system for that in place—and without it, the rule is just empty words.
Are police going to start asking for weed papers? Will tourists have to see a doctor before they visit a dispensary? Is anyone going to explain how this is meant to work?
And what about all the people who use cannabis for sleep, anxiety, or stress—stuff that’s real, but might not come with a formal diagnosis? Are they suddenly criminals again? We are all aware of how corruption could take over this.
It feels like the government is trying to look like it’s “doing something,” instead of actually creating clear, workable rules. Meanwhile, this just adds more confusion and opens the door for sketchy enforcement or corruption.
If Thailand wants to get cannabis policy right, it needs to treat it seriously—not with vague, half-baked ideas. And if there’s going to be a debate, let’s actually have one—with facts, not fear.