THE BUBBLE

Since decriminalization, more than a million people have applied to grow cannabis via the government’s app. Similarly, over 5,000 licenses to buisinesses offering cannabis have opened, according to the Public Health Ministry.

Some of the most striking dispensaries on Sukhumvit are the startlingly well-designed Cloud Nine in Nana across from Korea Town and the kooky Kush House near Phrom Phong— both interests of the Panthera Group.

“We’ve got six now, and we’ll open up another 10 in the next five months,” Benjamin Baskins, CEO of OG Retail Company with Panthera, told BK in January. “We’re going forward, man.”

And why not? The boom is on. This industry could be worth B33 billion by 2025 and B322 billion by 2030 according to Grand View Research. So, there’s plenty of room for even more dispensaries cluttering up the city’s population-heavy areas.

The first few months saw skyrocketing sales and have been buoyed by the influx of tourists and the obvious high season in December. Sales have seen boom after boom.

Now, Benjamin and a number of other weed business owners are going to be targeting Silom, where, apart from the usual tourists, an influx of Chinese visitors are expected in the coming months. Wonderland, on Sukhumvit, is already advertising in a number of languages on bright pink weed signs, including Chinese. China has been tightening its weed laws in recent years, so it’s expected to draw intense attention from curious travelers.

“I think…like America, there were a lot of small guys, they got their dispensary licenses and then ended up selling out to the big boys, or some of them went out of business for a variety of different reasons, whether it’s cashflow issues or not being able to keep up with all the documentation and the paperwork.”

Thailand’s weed scene may seem Wild West from the outside, and enforcement of the laws at the moment is, at best, lax. However, behind the scenes those trying to stay above board need to keep up with the authorities’ capricious requirements—along with a mountain of paperwork.

That mountain got considerably bigger at the start of the year with the announcement that anyone purchasing cannabis products will need to produce either a Thai national ID .

Each month, registered shops are required to submit reports on sales and purchases to the government so that sales and traffic in cannabis can be tracked from a central database. Those failing to do so will have their licenses revoked. BK visited a number of dispensaries who were not yet compliant with this new rule, which could spell trouble down the road.

“Clean invoices, purchasing from local farmers that have the growing licenses and sales licenses. They require that now,” Baskin says for advice on people hoping to start up a dispensary now. “Just have a good council. Make sure you get good advice. The laws are changing all the time.”