In sticky, sweaty Bangkok, there seemed to be more weed shops than there were Buddhist temples — and there were a lot of temples. Some shops were decorated with psychedelic art on the walls, beanbags laid out over the floor and ambient music playing; others were little more than just wooden table stalls in the middle of the street. I found one place selling Scotty Pie hybrid strain blunts for 480 baht (>$13) whereas a simple roll of Thai weed will only set you back 100 baht . The budtender unscrewed a jar to let me sniff the fresh aroma, but since rolling a joint for me is like solving a Rubix Cube, I bought a pre-rolled Thai and went on my merry way.
On 9 June 2022, Thailand made history as the first Asian nation to lift the ban on cannabis after decades of prohibition. The plant was removed from the list of dangerous narcotics, and although casual consumption technically remained off-limits, nobody, not even the cops, seemed to care. Thousands of prisoners were set free that very day. It was de-facto legalization.
