Thai police seize 5 tons of marijuana worth 500 million baht

[ccarbaugh]

I was here in the early 70's and it was just as good as being legal.

The going price was 1 Brick (of 20 "Sticks") for 20 Baht.

Me and all my buddies would ride all over the city in tuk-tuks always

"having-a-puff" between stops for pooying. Routinely, we would even

walk along Sukhumvit smoking away and only receiving curious

glances from passersby. We pretty much stayed "shit-faced" 24/7.

Thai society was much more friendly then. Noticeably less materialistic,

ambitious, judgemental etc. The famous "Thai Smiles" were more frequent,

genuine and didn't necessarily depend on a commercial transaction nearly

as much as now.

[BigRick]

Which Hilton.

The Grey bar one that comes with free room and board for the next 10-20 years if you get caught.

[Frank James]

From the (poor quality) photo it looks like the seized product is the usual low grade stuff one sees here, not worth any baht whatsover. If this is the case, and it really was to go to the Netherlands, buyers on that end will be very disappointed. The references to the old "Thai stick" brings back memories. If only...

[binjalin]

I feel sorry for anyone who get's nabbed for this harmless weed - let people alone for Buddha's sake!

[choff56]

With Uruguay legalising it and also several us states and of course Holland,i am hoping the whole world will wake up and do the same.

Amen! I can't ever remember saying after smoking a joint and concurrently sipping a cocktail, Hey now the perfect nightcap would be smoking some crystal meth. However not the same outcome when you remove marijuana from the equation.

[dinooz]

Where does Holland buy it's legal weed from?

In Holland, legal weed is bought legally from guys who grow it illegally.

That is one of the anomalies of the Dutch system, i.e. that it encourages illegal smuggling into Holland from countries where it is illegal. Morocco is the largest supplier to Europe in general. Most of it is smuggled in boats to Spain and then overland.

There is a series on youtube called "the seed hunters",Three Dutch guys travelling the world to find the purest and most potent strains of pot.They trek to the most remote places to find their pot of gold and simply mail the seeds back home and grow it hydroponically to maintain the different strains in its purest forms.Thailand is in one of the series.

[getthaid]

Does the NNB even know what they are writhing? Normally the street value of 1 kilo marijuana here in Thailand is 20,000 THB. With this lot it is 100,000 THB. (500,000,000/5000)

When calculating the worth of drug busts all enforcement agencies use the highest end of pricing. Ie the highest price for the smallest deal.

A 'gram' of coke on a bad street deal would be priced at 3k. But it's probably only .6 of a g and is as low as 10% pure. They would therefore price a pure uncut gram at (3000/.6)/.1

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[jcisco]

I am thinking chain of evidence requirements necessary for a prosecution that will survive daylight would at least ensure for a time being at least this product is out of circulation. I was going to say off the streets, but since it was being exported, I guess now it will end up on the streets.

It is a huge failing in Thailand that everyone just expects the police to fail in their obligations to the citizenship. But I guess in Thailand where there is a will, a way will be found by invention, imagination and ignorance to benefit from something.. anything, even if it shouldn't be.

It is the Thai version of the common Chinese mercantile trait i guess. :|

[Guitar God]

I think you're referring to "Strain Hunters". That's Arjan Roskam from the Greenhouse, along with breeder Franco who travel around collecting landrace strains (and creatively writing off his vacations as a business expense).

Where does Holland buy it's legal weed from?

In Holland, legal weed is bought legally from guys who grow it illegally.

That is one of the anomalies of the Dutch system, i.e. that it encourages illegal smuggling into Holland from countries where it is illegal. Morocco is the largest supplier to Europe in general. Most of it is smuggled in boats to Spain and then overland.

There is a series on youtube called "the seed hunters",Three Dutch guys travelling the world to find the purest and most potent strains of pot.They trek to the most remote places to find their pot of gold and simply mail the seeds back home and grow it hydroponically to maintain the different strains in its purest forms.Thailand is in one of the series.

[myluckythai]

smuggle it to Holland????? really,like we need this dried up shit when it gets there. like we dont have enough quality overthere ourselves. havent seen the thaistick for ages anymore overthere and there was a good reason for that, can't imagine anyone buying this. However still enough stupid tourists in Amsterdam buying whatever crap they get in their hands..... funny to me non the less. smuggle weed to holland. Maybe try cheese next time. a lot safer and we don't need it too...

[american12bthai]

Why they not just legalize it? It does not kill anybody.

mafia . <--- thats PERIOD.

[american12bthai]

Nice pic. So the stuff they sell in Amsterdam coffee shops as Thai sticks is (or was) genuine?

thai drugs are ALL smuggled in through... chaing rai to chaing mai. ... alll along the border to cambodia. ALL IMPORTED. THe good stuff does go for about 800 b a gram, also imported. (int the states i wouldnt pay more than 600b for top grade.) the stuff they stole, i mean, seized, WAS top grade... like... in the 1970s. and it hasnot changed in almost 50 years. not that i know anything. i only overhear djs talking about this crap IN RCA. Just send a hot girl to ask. serious. they are that dumb.

thaksins war on drugs made it more expensive, more available, and more easier to acquire.

and whatever you do, do not look into how a former PM ex wife road to riches came to be.

[davidmann]

Why would Holland import crap Thai weed? Seriously its like importing piss water when you have a lake full of Glenfiddich.

If you come from the 1960 Piss water better than Glenfiddich

[timbus8]

anyone know where and when they might be burning this stuff ?

I have a different method of burning the stuff. It would take me longer but less waste!

[thaicookingchef]

The police is 500 MTHB more rich...

[Maggusoil]

anyone know where and when they might be burning this stuff ?

A very popular thought !!

[HerbalEd]

This story stinks! And it smells like moldy, crappy, low-quality Thai weed. The quoted price is absurdly high and there's no way in heaven or hell that the connoisseurs who frequent Dutch coffee shops would every smoke the Thai/Lao crap ... much less pay for it.

If this was the famous Thai Stick, then I'd sing a different tune but, alas,that is a bygone era.

[HerbalEd]

Where does Holland buy it's legal weed from?

Actually most of it comes into Holland illegally, but once it winds up in a legitimate coffee shop, it magically becomes legal weed.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed.

[HerbalEd]

Why would Holland import crap Thai weed? Seriously its like importing piss water when you have a lake full of Glenfiddich.

The coffeeshops in Netherlands offer many different cannabis strains. Possibly this seized cache was a supply of Thai Stick:

A Thai stick is a form of cannabis from Thailand that was popular during the late 1960s and 1970s. It consisted of premium buds of seedless marijuana which were skewered on stems. Several rows of fiber found in the stalk of the marijuana plant were then used to tie the marijuana to the stem to keep it in place.^[1] Thai stick bud may also be tied around bamboo sticks with a piece of string known as a “rasta hair.”^[2]

The Thai sticks exhibited considerably higher potency in comparison with other cannabis available in Western countries at the time. This added potency was rumored to be caused by the Thai sticks being dipped in opium. However, the more widely accepted reason is that Thai cannabis growers had for hundreds of years selected seeds from their strongest plants, which coupled with Thailand's long growing season, high temperatures and, rich volcanic soil, conspired to produce an exceptionally potent product. A number of reasons have been cited for the decline of the Thai stick; stricter policing of cannabis cultivation; dilution of traditional cannabis populations by earlier maturing, less psychoactive cultivars imported from Pakistan and Afghanistan; the burgeoning indoor growing industry in target markets; and the reduction of military troop transports (which was the primary means of export) between Thailand, particularly Bangkok, and the United States, at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

In modern terminology, Thai stick often refers to marijuana tied to stem as documented above and then dipped into a hashish oil, a potent cannabis derivative which saturates the buds and lends to a stronger smoke. Some California cannabis clubs sell this product. Originally, this was a frequent practice of the 1970s with the actual Thai stick. There are still some surviving recipes from Cambodia where high quality marijuana and hash oil are used.

I haven't seen Thai Stick for thirty-five years. It doesn't exist anymore ... or if it does, it's only grown in very small amount by some old-timerers who grow for their personal use ... and I'd love to meet 'em. Hell, even when it was available you'd never see 5 metric tons. The manicuring and tying to bamboo sticks was way too tedious to produce tonnage.

Edited April 30, 2014 by HerbalEd

[johnnysunshine]

I've lived in Holland a few summers and why would they export to Holland...like shipping ice cream bars to the Eskimos!

[Benmart]

So many critics, experts and professionals. Perhaps they should be running the world to turn it into a perfect place.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Benmart

[jimbeam1]

Why would Holland import crap Thai weed? Seriously its like importing piss water when you have a lake full of Glenfiddich.

The coffeeshops in Netherlands offer many different cannabis strains. Possibly this seized cache was a supply of Thai Stick:

A Thai stick is a form of cannabis from Thailand that was popular during the late 1960s and 1970s. It consisted of premium buds of seedless marijuana which were skewered on stems. Several rows of fiber found in the stalk of the marijuana plant were then used to tie the marijuana to the stem to keep it in place.^[1] Thai stick bud may also be tied around bamboo sticks with a piece of string known as a “rasta hair.”^[2]

The Thai sticks exhibited considerably higher potency in comparison with other cannabis available in Western countries at the time. This added potency was rumored to be caused by the Thai sticks being dipped in opium. However, the more widely accepted reason is that Thai cannabis growers had for hundreds of years selected seeds from their strongest plants, which coupled with Thailand's long growing season, high temperatures and, rich volcanic soil, conspired to produce an exceptionally potent product. A number of reasons have been cited for the decline of the Thai stick; stricter policing of cannabis cultivation; dilution of traditional cannabis populations by earlier maturing, less psychoactive cultivars imported from Pakistan and Afghanistan; the burgeoning indoor growing industry in target markets; and the reduction of military troop transports (which was the primary means of export) between Thailand, particularly Bangkok, and the United States, at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

In modern terminology, Thai stick often refers to marijuana tied to stem as documented above and then dipped into a hashish oil, a potent cannabis derivative which saturates the buds and lends to a stronger smoke. Some California cannabis clubs sell this product. Originally, this was a frequent practice of the 1970s with the actual Thai stick. There are still some surviving recipes from Cambodia where high quality marijuana and hash oil are used.

Just imagine someone saying I have 5 tons of weed I want making into Thai sticks. I'll be back in the morning to pick it up.

I think that could be the reason for it's decline.

But for sure Thai weed has always been highly regarded as some of the best around.

jb1

[jimbeam1]

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Where does Holland buy it's legal weed from?

In Holland, legal weed is bought legally from guys who grow it illegally.

Sounds a bit like a country I know, fits btwn Malaysia and Burma.

Its one of the mistakes, that is why growing should be legal back in The Netherlands too. Some are campaigning for it as its a crazy situation where its legal to sell and own but not to grow. Still its good that its legal to use as its a big step forward and less damaging as alcohol.

Is it legal in Holland? I thought that it was tolerated (decriminalised) only in licensed places?

Just found this link:

http://www.dailysmoker.com/various/amsterdam/drug-policy/cannabis-legal-netherlands

jb1

[Stan7444]

Something stinks about this story. Probably didn't pay the tea money. Anyway, big party downwind on bonfire night.

What stinks is this pot. Too bad people are stuck on drugs to get through their lives. Sad.

[HerbalEd]

Why would Holland import crap Thai weed? Seriously its like importing piss water when you have a lake full of Glenfiddich.

The coffeeshops in Netherlands offer many different cannabis strains. Possibly this seized cache was a supply of Thai Stick:

But for sure Thai weed has always been highly regarded as some of the best around.

jb1

Thai weed "used to be" highly regarded ... and rightfully so. But not today's weed which is very low grade ... and a lot of it (most of it?) comes into Thailand from Laos & Cambodia, and it sucks too.

[HerbalEd]

Something stinks about this story. Probably didn't pay the tea money. Anyway, big party downwind on bonfire night.

What stinks is this pot. Too bad people are stuck on drugs to get through their lives. Sad.

Do you drink alcohol?

[MW72]

Something stinks about this story. Probably didn't pay the tea money. Anyway, big party downwind on bonfire night.

What stinks is this pot. Too bad people are stuck on drugs to get through their lives. Sad.

Do you drink alcohol?

Or any drinks with caffeine, smoke or chew tobacco?

[Bpuumike]

Nice pic. So the stuff they sell in Amsterdam coffee shops as Thai sticks is (or was) genuine?

No, not at all. Sounds exotic though.

Back to the OP, why are the BIB tracing fingerprints to find the perps if it's not the warehouse owner.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Bpuumike

[KhunSteven]

Where does Holland buy it's legal weed from?

Remember it is not legal, just tolerated. Currently it is bought from criminals who supply the coffee shops, though this model is changing with the local Gemeente or Council increasingly growing and supplying the coffee shops.