CANNABIS BUSINESS START-UP IN THAILAND
It is now lawful to manufacture, sell, and consume certain portions of cannabis for medical and health purposes, as well as for food consumption, research, and other uses, thanks to an amendment to the Thailand Narcotics Law that decriminalized specific cannabis components. Cannabis’s bark, trunk, fiber, branch, root, leaf without flowers, extract having no more than 0.2% of THC and CBD, as well as any leftover residues after extraction, are no longer regarded as illegal drugs. However, Thailand-grown cannabis must be used for these plant sections.
Although marijuana is officially legal in Thailand, there are still certain restrictions. Cannabis extracts that contain more than 0.2% THC are regarded as narcotics. It is illegal to possess, sell, or distribute this without a license.
Cannabis with less than 0.2% THC is permitted to possess, use, or smoke, but only if the user is 20 years of age or older, or on a doctor’s prescription. The use and purchase of cannabis products is strictly forbidden for women who are pregnant or nursing. Additionally, it is still illegal to smoke in public and to consume cannabis for recreational reasons, both of which are punished by fines and jail time.
CAN FOREIGNERS DO BUSINESS IN THAILAND WITH CANNABIS?
Cannabis cultivation and shipment to foreign nationals or foreign-owned businesses are illegal under the legislation. However, foreigners can enter the cannabis and CBD markets by forming a Thai Limited Company. Cannabis production, sales, and import permits must be obtained with Thai national ownership of at least 51% of the stock, as well as at least two-thirds of the capital and directorship.
DO YOU NEED A LICENSE TO SELL CANNABIS?
The Cannabis laws must be properly followed by anyone wishing to start a cannabis business in Thailand. For making extracts, growing, selling, importing, and exporting cannabis, various licenses will be necessary. Failure to obtain the proper license will result in a fine and/or jail sentence.
- Distribution of Plant Parts: Selling cannabis leaves, branches, roots, and trunk is not subject to a license requirement. A license from the Plant Varieties Act, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, is necessary to distribute additional plant components.
- Importing Seeds: Under the Plant Quarantine Act and Plant Varieties Act, businesses with Thai and foreign ownership are permitted to import cannabis seeds. The importation of other cannabis and hemp plant parts, particularly those used to make quick items like food, cosmetics, and herbs, is prohibited.
- Distribution of Extracts: In accordance with the law on drugs, extraction from any cannabis or hemp plant parts—a plant belonging to the genus Cannabis—other than seeds, requires a permit.
- If the extracts contain little more than 0.2% THC, the vendor is not obliged to obtain a license to sell narcotics.
- Both purchasers and sellers of extracts containing more than 0.2% THC must obtain a drug license.
- Selling and Distribution of Cannabis-Containing Products: Food, beverages, and cosmetics products shouldn’t have extracts with more than 0.2% THC in them. Depending on the business’s operations, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization may be necessary.
- Growing Cannabis: The FDA introduced a website and mobile application that allowed users to register and specify their reasons for growing cannabis.
WHAT KIND OF CANNABIS-CONTAINING PRODUCTS CAN BE SOLD?
Cannabis may be used as a selling ingredient, but only those components that the Ministry of Public Health has approved, such as hemp seeds, hemp seed oil, hemp seed protein, trunk, fiber, branch, root, and leaves—not the tip or the flower.
Generic home treatments for use at home that contain cannabis/hemp
• Food supplements made from hemp, hemp oil, CBD oil, CBD cannabis oil, THC oil, and CBD oils free of THC
• Cosmetics containing hemp/cannabis ingredients
These goods cannot have extracts with a THC content of more than 0.2%. They must not make inflated or fraudulent claims, and they must have an FDA number and a selling authorization specific to the type of product.
Items of food or confectionery
A food item or confectionery product using cannabis food ingredients, such as cookies, hemp candy, hemp leaf juice, or hemp powder 100%, cannot contain an extract with a THC content of more than 0.2%. They must have an FDA number and refrain from making overstated or untrue claims.
Planting products like seeds, stalks, shoots, rhizomes, Branches, Buds, Roots, Tubers, Flowers, Fruits, or Seeds for Planting
All of these require a Plant Varieties Act Selling License from the Department of Agriculture.
Source: https://magnacarta.co.th/home/faq-section-2/starting-a-cannabis-business-in-thailand/
Medical cannabis professional based in Phuket, Thailand.
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