When Thailand became the first Asian country to not just decriminalize but to completely legalize marijuana use for anyone who feels like it I was actually quite proud of this country. I still am but can't help but giggle a bit at how massive this industry has become virtually overnight.
These days no matter where you go there are are weed shops and even places you wouldn't expect to see something like a drug that gets you high for sale.... has it for sale. I suppose since I don't really feel any differently about weed as I do about liquor this is just fine with me and most people. It is just a bit funny how they went full speed ahead on this so quickly.
When the law was passed they had a rather vague description about where it is that a person is actually allowed to smoke the refer that they buy and when they said that smoking in public was strictly prohibited I was thinking to myself that there was no way that they were actually going to enforce that.
If you walk around almost any populated area in Thailand you can smell the devil's lettuce in the air and again, I do not have a problem with this. I never really thought they were going to be able to prohibit people from smoking in public.
Nearly every bar and restaurant that I have been to since the laws changed has signs saying that you can't smoke weed in there people still do it. The only place that actually seems to enforce this are the actual dispensaries and even that kind of depends on where you happen to be. If it is a high profile area with lots of people they will not allow it, but then there are cafes right outside the door where it is also technically not allowed but everyone does it. This has resulted in nearly every weed shop having an attached coffee shop since I guess bars are not allowed to sell weed. I don't really have any idea because legal or not, marijuana has never really been my thing.
I did encounter this for the first time ever the other day though.
This was in the middle of a rather large pub area that we have in Chiang Mai called Loi Kroh. From what I have heard it IS still illegal to smoke weed in public including where this sign is. However, Loi Kroh is also not supposed to allow people to smoke cigarettes or have prostitutes but there are loads of both of that going on in Loi Kroh as well. This pub area is also supposed to close at midnight just like all other pubs in Thailand according to national law..... They don't though.
Whatever! I like freedom and I congratulate Thailand for letting people do what they want with their own money and bodies.
In other funny weed news there is the country's first "weed boxing" event will take place in Koh Samui soon
How about that? The fighters will be required to be high as hell before they fight one another.
Some of my friends that are high basically all the time say that certain types of marijuana actually enhances their ability to do some things so maybe there are some Muay Thai fighters out there that will perform better stoned. From the memories I have of being stoned unless it was eating pizza or playing Playstation, I think I would be very negatively impacted by this.
It could be a lot of fun though. If you are in Thailand and want to see this event you already missed it because it took place on August 27th. But I am sure it was popular and they will do it again. To get news about any upcoming events you can follow Pure Striking for updates on future events.
If you are fan of unrestricted access to weed I suppose Thailand could be a place for you to consider visiting.