Thailand has issued new enforcement guidelines for cannabis businesses, introducing license suspensions, possible revocations, stricter reporting rules, and tighter controls around prescriptions, advertising, online sales, and on-site use. The move signals a continued shift away from the country’s post-2022 cannabis boom toward a more controlled medical framework with heavier state oversight.
Thailand has moved the cannabis chessboard—yes, once again. After becoming one of the most closely watched markets in the world following decriminalization in 2022, the Asian country continues to adjust the boundaries of an industry that grew quickly, attracted tourism, opened thousands of stores and, at the same time, became trapped in an increasingly uncomfortable legal gray area. Now, the government has issued new enforcement guidelines for cannabis businesses in Thailand, with license suspensions, possible revocations, and stricter controls over sales, advertising, reporting, and medical prescriptions, according to The Nation.
The measure was announced by Thailand’s Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, known as DTAM, on June 22. The new guidelines seek to tighten enforcement of the rules issued by the Public Health Ministry in 2025, when cannabis flower was reclassified as a controlled herb and its sale was limited to the medical framework.
Cannabis Businesses in Thailand: Once a Green Boom, Now a Market Under Watch
The Thai case became central to the global cannabis conversation: the country was the first in Southeast Asia to move forward with such a broad opening. In 2022, Thailand removed cannabis from its list of narcotics, allowing the rapid growth of stores, dispensaries, tourism ventures and agricultural projects linked to the plant.
But that boom arrived without a comprehensive law clearly organizing what could be done, who could sell, under what conditions, and with what limits. In the following years, the government began to step back from the more open model and push the market toward a medical framework. In 2025, authorities restricted the sale of cannabis flower without a prescription and reinforced the idea that the plant should be used for medical, research, or health purposes, not recreational ones.
That change did not simply mean shutting everything down overnight, but it did redefine the operating framework. Licensed stores could continue operating, although under stricter conditions: supply from certified sources, monthly reports, sales tied to prescriptions, and limits on advertising, digital channels, and sales spaces.
Now, DTAM’s new guidelines seek to move from written rules to concrete enforcement. In other words: less ambiguity, more inspections, and clearer consequences for operators who fail to comply. According to The Nation, the stated goal is for officials and businesses to work under a common standard across the country, both in central and provincial areas.
What Sanctions Do Cannabis Businesses in Thailand Now Face?
The new guidelines establish license suspensions of between 30 and 90 days, depending on the severity of the violation. Violations considered minor—such as failing to keep required business reports on site, keeping incomplete reports, or failing to submit them to the corresponding registrar—may lead to a 30-day suspension.
The same sanction may apply when an operator sells or exports controlled herbs that do not comply with good agricultural and collection practices, known as GACP, or with equivalent or stricter standards. Businesses may also receive a 30-day suspension if they fail to clearly display their license, cannot show an electronic license to inspectors, or if they advertise controlled herbs for commercial purposes.
More serious violations may lead to a 90-day suspension. These include failing to report export details to authorities or selling cannabis without a prescription issued by a qualified professional. This point is key because it marks the heart of the new model: cannabis in Thailand is no longer being treated as a general retail product, but as a substance regulated within a medical framework.
License revocation is reserved for serious violations. According to The Nation, DTAM may revoke licenses when operators file false reports, sell cannabis to people under 20, students, pregnant or breastfeeding people without a prescription, allow on-site use, sell products through vending machines, sell marijuana online, or sell it in prohibited places such as temples, dorms or public parks.
In addition, if multiple violations are detected simultaneously, suspension periods may be accumulated, although with a maximum of 90 days. For repeat offenders, the sanction can escalate: a repeat offense could lead to the immediate license revocation.
The Thai Experiment Enters a New Stage
The decision confirms that Thailand continues to move away from the open model that made it an international reference after 2022. The country is not simply adjusting administrative details: it is trying to turn a market that grew with a recreational, tourism-driven, and commercial aesthetic into a more controlled, medicalized system supervised by the state.
For the industry, the change means strong pressure. Operators that relied on spontaneous sales, weed tourism, visible advertising, or online channels are now much more exposed. To remain within the legal framework, businesses will have to prove traceability, report operations, comply with cultivation standards, display licenses and guarantee that sales are backed by valid prescriptions.
For the Thai government, meanwhile, the tougher approach seeks to respond to criticism over access by minors, non-medical use, lack of control and the disorderly expansion of the market. Thai authorities have been insisting that cannabis must be limited to medical and health uses, and that enforcement must especially protect minors and vulnerable groups.
The underlying tension remains the same: Thailand has ideal climatic conditions for large-scale cultivation and enormous potential to become a relevant player in cannabis exports to legal markets. But that potential coexists with an increasingly restrictive regulatory framework, where the industry’s growth will depend less on tourism enthusiasm and more on the ability to comply with medical, agricultural, and administrative rules.
Ultimately, Thailand is not abandoning cannabis completely, but it is closing the most permissive stage of its experiment. The message for businesses is clear: operating is no longer enough. Compliance must be proven. And in a country that went from historic decriminalization to strict medical control in just a few years, every new enforcement guideline can change the future of one of the world’s most closely watched cannabis industries.
