I am wondering whether, as there is more adoption of the medical cannabis prescription process in Thailand, there might be consideration of extending the validity period from requiring a new medical certificate every 30 days to something like every 3 to 6 or even 12 months. The frequent renewal requirement could be viewed as a barrier that discourages people from staying within the new legal framework.

I understand that it is a controlled substance and that these types of medications are often dispensed in 30 day supplies, partly due to concerns around misuse or abuse. However, for patients who are stable and already established on treatment, it seems reasonable that after an initial monitoring period of around 3 months of monthly prescriptions, the certificate validity could be extended to at least 90 days or longer.

Purchase limits could still remain in place, such as 30 grams per 30 days, while the prescription itself would remain valid for a longer period. This would reduce the need for repeated clinic visits or online renewals each month, while still maintaining control over consumption. It could also help reduce financial pressure on patients who may not be able to afford repeated certificate fees, which now average around 3,000 to 4,000 baht per year.

It might also be financially beneficial for clinics, since a longer validity period could justify a higher fee for the certificate. At present, the frequent renewal requirement may actually discourage repeat engagement after the first few months, whereas a 90 day system could support more stable long term patient relationships.

While I see the value in having a prescription based system, I am not sure whether a strict 30 day certificate cycle is the most sustainable approach. In many countries with medical cannabis frameworks already in place for a long time, patients are issued a medical cannabis card or authorization that can remain valid for up to a year, while monthly purchase limits are used to regulate supply.

In Thailand, where many people tend to take the path of least resistance, if there are easier ways to access cannabis outside the formal system, it seems likely that many local users will continue doing so because it is easier and lower cost. Foreigners may be more inclined to follow the legal process to avoid complications, but if most local users do not engage with the certificate system, and usage enforcement becomes stricter again in the future, it could place additional pressure on the legal and justice system through increased cannabis related cases, which is something I don't think is the ideal outcome for anyone.

Given how often the policy has shifted back and forth over the last 4 years, it would not be surprising if further adjustments are still made to all this in the future.

Some recent article below on the subject.

Thoughts?

https://www.juslaws.com/articles/new-thailand-cannabis-law-april-30-2026-ministerial-regulation-no-2-be-2569

https://asianews.network/thailands-new-cannabis-hemp-extract-rules-take-effect-limiting-use-to-four-purposes

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3255934/thailand-tightens-sales-rules-for-cannabis

Most Thais and foreigners are not going to go through the hassle to get a new prescription every month. I have no clue if they are considering extending the prescription period it but that would be nice. If the prescription was for three months I would do it.

I made a post like this on another thread and was locked out of thread completely. For good reason, we shouldn't be discussing the legality of cannabis. Better just to go with the flow and ignore reality.

Edited May 19May 19 by atpeace

3 hours ago, atpeace said:

Most Thais and foreigners are not going to go through the hassle to get a new prescription every month.

I agree and I think that is where the system could fail. If the process were less costly and less cumbersome, more people would likely comply. Perhaps it is intentionally made to be difficult, or maybe the mechanics of it has not been fully thought through.

There are a few traditional Thai medical clinics that are licensed to issue the forms and they handle it online. I think the average price is around ฿900 initially to get a medical card from a traditional clinic and for the first form sent by postal mail. After that, it is around ฿400 for each new form sent by post. It does not seem like any actual doctor visits are needed. It can be as simple as sending a text message once a month to request a new form, transferring payment to the clinic account, and then waiting for it to arrive by post. Even so, that adds up to close to an extra ฿5000 per year, which feels significant. This can be an issue for locals who do not see the need to spend extra money to access forms merely to purchase cannabis.

This is a slightly separate point, but I have heard that in places like the United States and Canada, where cannabis can now be purchased legally from dispensaries, many people still buy from the same suppliers they used to get it from before legalization. In that situation, not following the legal framework may come down to similar reasons. Likely a mix of added inconvenience, cost, and simply preferring to use the familiar source they have always used in the past. People in Thailand may do the same and continue getting it from the same supplier without using the form as long as the supplier does not require it.

1 hour ago, Terrance8812 said:

I agree and I think that is where the system could fail. If the process were less costly and less cumbersome, more people would likely comply. Perhaps it is intentionally made to be difficult, or maybe the mechanics of it has not been fully thought through.

There are a few traditional Thai medical clinics that are licensed to issue the forms and they handle it online. I think the average price is around ฿900 initially to get a medical card from a traditional clinic and for the first form sent by postal mail. After that, it is around ฿400 for each new form sent by post. It does not seem like any actual doctor visits are needed. It can be as simple as sending a text message once a month to request a new form, transferring payment to the clinic account, and then waiting for it to arrive by post. Even so, that adds up to close to an extra ฿5000 per year, which feels significant. This can be an issue for locals who do not see the need to spend extra money to access forms merely to purchase cannabis.

This is a slightly separate point, but I have heard that in places like the United States and Canada, where cannabis can now be purchased legally from dispensaries, many people still buy from the same suppliers they used to get it from before legalization. In that situation, not following the legal framework may come down to similar reasons. Likely a mix of added inconvenience, cost, and simply preferring to use the familiar source they have always used in the past. People in Thailand may do the same and continue getting it from the same supplier without using the form as long as the supplier does not require it.

I agree but like I stated before, not a good discussion to have. You can't discuss illegal activities on a forum here for obvious reasons. Well, the reasons went over my head a week ago when I was locked out of a thread but I figured it out :)

I guess we wait to see how this all develops. So far, enforcement of the requirement for the medical form, which started almost a year ago, does not seem to have had much effect on public use so far. That may change in the coming months now that new laws were created last month to limit use to medical purposes and aim to make non medical use illegal.

It still feels somewhat unclear because you have the rule that allows medical use only, but at the same time possession is not explicitly treated as illegal. The biggest visible change in Thailand may be that access becomes less widespread as more cannabis shops can't renew licenses and close down over the next couple of years, although it is not clear how much that will actually reduce recreational domestic consumption.

13 hours ago, atpeace said:

I agree but like I stated before, not a good discussion to have. You can't discuss illegal activities on a forum here for obvious reasons. Well, the reasons went over my head a week ago when I was locked out of a thread but I figured it out :)

FYI, it appears that the thread was deleted by the admins - I don't think you were singled out. Perhaps it was deleted because the thread in general was inappropriate under recent legal trends.

4 hours ago, Wuvu2 said:

FYI, it appears that the thread was deleted by the admins - I don't think you were singled out. Perhaps it was deleted because the thread in general was inappropriate under recent legal trends.

Thanks for the update. I thought my questions were inappropriate which I completely understand now.

While we can all debate the merits of the prescription requirement, it appears to be here to stay. I'm surprised by the amount of pushback on this. Five years ago, we'd have been thrilled to get a prescription to be able to obtain and possess our meds legally.

Like the 90-day report and long-stay visa hassles, this is just one of the hoops we have to jump through to stay welcomed as guests in Thailand. Why all the pushback?

On 5/19/2026 at 1:06 PM, Terrance8812 said:

I agree and I think that is where the system could fail. If the process were less costly and less cumbersome, more people would likely comply. Perhaps it is intentionally made to be difficult, or maybe the mechanics of it has not been fully thought through.

There are a few traditional Thai medical clinics that are licensed to issue the forms and they handle it online. I think the average price is around ฿900 initially to get a medical card from a traditional clinic and for the first form sent by postal mail. After that, it is around ฿400 for each new form sent by post. It does not seem like any actual doctor visits are needed. It can be as simple as sending a text message once a month to request a new form, transferring payment to the clinic account, and then waiting for it to arrive by post. Even so, that adds up to close to an extra ฿5000 per year, which feels significant. This can be an issue for locals who do not see the need to spend extra money to access forms merely to purchase cannabis.

This is a slightly separate point, but I have heard that in places like the United States and Canada, where cannabis can now be purchased legally from dispensaries, many people still buy from the same suppliers they used to get it from before legalization. In that situation, not following the legal framework may come down to similar reasons. Likely a mix of added inconvenience, cost, and simply preferring to use the familiar source they have always used in the past. People in Thailand may do the same and continue getting it from the same supplier without using the form as long as the supplier does not require it.

Well, I'd rather spend the additional 5000 Baht a year and get a prescription, rather than taking the risk of getting caught by the cops because, if they catch you, it will get definitely more expensive. Don't ask me how I know. Also, depending on how much they catch you with, they might revoke your permission to stay. I don't think it would be worth getting sent back home over lousy 5K a year!

9 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Well, I'd rather spend the additional 5000 Baht a year and get a prescription, rather than taking the risk of getting caught by the cops because, if they catch you, it will get definitely more expensive. Don't ask me how I know. Also, depending on how much they catch you with, they might revoke your permission to stay. I don't think it would be worth getting sent back home over lousy 5K a year!

Personally, I have no problem with the form system itself. I received my first form soon after the system was introduced last year and I got a new one the other day. Honestly, I do not think many other people would have questioned it either if this had been the system from the very beginning when cannabis was decriminalised back in 2022. The issue is that people have been able to freely buy and consume cannabis for the past four years, so introducing extra requirements now naturally feels a bit cumbersome compared to what everyone was already used to.

For me, the bigger concern is the fact that the process has to be repeated every 30 days. In a lot of other countries with medical cannabis programmes, prescriptions are handled in a much more streamlined way as I mentioned, and patients are not constantly needing new paperwork every month. That part feels unnecessarily inconvenient.

Another point is that despite the introduction of new consumption related rules, possession itself is no longer treated in the same way as illegal narcotics under the current Thai framework. It is not illegally classified in the same category as it used to be, which makes enforcement and prosecution for simple possession much more complicated in practice.

Interestingly, the place I usually buy from still is not requiring a form AFAIK, and I honestly do not know whether they plan to start enforcing it or not. I have not asked. My assumption is that if the government decides to seriously enforce the form requirement and the 30 day and 30 gram possession limits, they will probably make a few public examples out of people in order to push compliance on the public. It is going to be a tough job for them though with an estimated 7 million Thai citizens now using cannabis. Can you imagine expecting 7 million users to get a form every month just to light up a joint at home in a country like Thailand where many people ride a motorcycle without even having a driving license. I am just being realistic here.

At the end of the day, though, any law without consistent enforcement will likely be ignored by a large portion of the public. It is also hard to imagine police prioritising cannabis enforcement when there are so many other issues and illegal drugs they need to deal with. Realistically, if enforcement increases, I could see it resulting more in fines and warnings rather than any large scale arrests.

i ONLY buy online and have never needed to show a script or anything
Asked them about it last year and they told me until the authorities actually put it in practice its not needed to buy

As fas as shops go, would be caught dead paying 10x the price for the same weed

On 5/23/2026 at 8:38 PM, Terrance8812 said:

Personally, I have no problem with the form system itself. I received my first form soon after the system was introduced last year and I got a new one the other day. Honestly, I do not think many other people would have questioned it either if this had been the system from the very beginning when cannabis was decriminalised back in 2022. The issue is that people have been able to freely buy and consume cannabis for the past four years, so introducing extra requirements now naturally feels a bit cumbersome compared to what everyone was already used to.

For me, the bigger concern is the fact that the process has to be repeated every 30 days. In a lot of other countries with medical cannabis programmes, prescriptions are handled in a much more streamlined way as I mentioned, and patients are not constantly needing new paperwork every month. That part feels unnecessarily inconvenient.

Another point is that despite the introduction of new consumption related rules, possession itself is no longer treated in the same way as illegal narcotics under the current Thai framework. It is not illegally classified in the same category as it used to be, which makes enforcement and prosecution for simple possession much more complicated in practice.

Interestingly, the place I usually buy from still is not requiring a form AFAIK, and I honestly do not know whether they plan to start enforcing it or not. I have not asked. My assumption is that if the government decides to seriously enforce the form requirement and the 30 day and 30 gram possession limits, they will probably make a few public examples out of people in order to push compliance on the public. It is going to be a tough job for them though with an estimated 7 million Thai citizens now using cannabis. Can you imagine expecting 7 million users to get a form every month just to light up a joint at home in a country like Thailand where many people ride a motorcycle without even having a driving license. I am just being realistic here.

At the end of the day, though, any law without consistent enforcement will likely be ignored by a large portion of the public. It is also hard to imagine police prioritising cannabis enforcement when there are so many other issues and illegal drugs they need to deal with. Realistically, if enforcement increases, I could see it resulting more in fines and warnings rather than any large scale arrests.

Yeah, but again, I'd rather play it safe, go the legal route and cough up an additional 5K a year and not worry. And just how much of a "hassle" is it really to renew it every 30 days?!

Seems so far, the public appears to be paying little attention to the new laws:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/3260323/cannabis-market-barely-dented-by-new-rules

https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/advanced/3260568/new-cannabis-rules-have-little-effect

Only the larger (OG Kush & PrikPot) are using the prescription system. Fast 420 & BKK Kush sell online without prescriptions. Most of the other places for sure around Pattaya have without. It will take 3 years probably before full prescription is implemented. Is the prescription weed better....Not really it is just more expensive. Not any benefit to follow their loose plan of implementation.

On 6/4/2026 at 8:32 AM, Beardog said:

Only the larger (OG Kush & PrikPot) are using the prescription system. Fast 420 & BKK Kush sell online without prescriptions. Most of the other places for sure around Pattaya have without. It will take 3 years probably before full prescription is implemented. Is the prescription weed better....Not really it is just more expensive. Not any benefit to follow their loose plan of implementation.

Yes but prescription weed is safe and poses no threat to the youth or to society in general, medical weed is totally different to all that awful recreational weed that threatens the very fabric of society , Don't get me started on the threat it poses to vulnerable children!

Thanks to these promotional 400 bt prescriptions we are all much safer in our beds at night, thank god for reefer madness

22 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

Yes but prescription weed is safe and poses no threat to the youth or to society in general, medical weed is totally different to all that awful recreational weed that threatens the very fabric of society , Don't get me started on the threat it poses to vulnerable children!

Thanks to these promotional 400 bt prescriptions we are all much safer in our beds at night, thank god for reefer madness

And people are saying the medicinal weed doesn't smell like the recreational weed so all the whiners that bitch about the smell will have to find something different to bitch about. 555

On 6/5/2026 at 12:55 PM, Bday Prang said:

Yes but prescription weed is safe and poses no threat to the youth or to society in general, medical weed is totally different to all that awful recreational weed that threatens the very fabric of society , Don't get me started on the threat it poses to vulnerable children!

Thanks to these promotional 400 bt prescriptions we are all much safer in our beds at night, thank god for reefer madness

LOL you are so High. My friends are farmers in Mendocino Ca. They sell the same weed to the medicinal labs that they sell on the open market.Now if you want to say evap weed may be different that would be an entirely different argument. Prescip weed isn't safer just 10 times more expensive.

weed is weed<
there is no dif between weed fo rrecreational or weed that is medical
its only a piece of paper

On 6/5/2026 at 12:55 PM, Bday Prang said:

Yes but prescription weed is safe and poses no threat to the youth or to society in general, medical weed is totally different to all that awful recreational weed that threatens the very fabric of society , Don't get me started on the threat it poses to vulnerable children!

Thanks to these promotional 400 bt prescriptions we are all much safer in our beds at night, thank god for reefer madness

23 minutes ago, Beardog said:

LOL you are so High. My friends are farmers in Mendocino Ca. They sell the same weed to the medicinal labs that they sell on the open market.Now if you want to say evap weed may be different that would be an entirely different argument. Prescip weed isn't safer just 10 times more expensive.

LOL I'm high? have you got any of that weed left over ? the weed that totally removes ones ability to recognise sarcasm,? if you have , bin it

On 5/24/2026 at 10:52 AM, zzzzz said:

i ONLY buy online and have never needed to show a script or anything
Asked them about it last year and they told me until the authorities actually put it in practice its not needed to buy

As fas as shops go, would be caught dead paying 10x the price for the same weed

sadly I reckon they will nail the online sellers soon enough I hope they don't , but they might do it by targeting the couriers, they tried it with the post office around the end of the previous government I was in our local post office as they were putting the sign up. I was a bit surprised, I didn't think there would be much "exporting" going on from here, its hardly the golden triangle ,

the sign is long gone and there have been reports from others confirming they have received deliveries from the post but the online seller i mostly use switched to "kerry" and has stayed with them, shame really the Thai post was always a day quicker and the regular postie doesn't require directions every time

Prices currently good . varying from 1bt / g for "trim" with flowers starting at 3b / g for green house 6bt for evap and topping out at around 15bt for "air con" other places charging a lot more 150b + local shop was a flat 60bt /g last time i was there Exactly the same stuff as the online weed surprise surprise but i try to pop in now and again , show a bit of support an all that , nice enough lads , never any mention of a prescription , The last time I was there, there was an off duty cop smoking a spliff whilst playing on his phone, he lives in the police flat next to my brother in law so no immediate issues out here