On Khao San Road, marijuana is prohibited; authorities call for enforcement

The mishmash of yes and no regarding the handling and prosecution of cannabis is to put it mildly bewildering, despite the fact that roughly a million people have now been granted licenses to sell cannabis. Smoking in public can also be penalized as a nuisance. Anutin Charnvirakul, the minister of public health, has called for the arrest of marijuana dealers on Khao San Road after his political party lobbied for its legalization and later complained that they had expected everyone would only consume it for medicinal grounds.

Wasan Boonmuenwai, the district head of Phra Nakhon, has asked police to pursue anyone who sells marijuana on Khao San Road in Bangkok, making it clear that sellers there are not permitted to lawfully sell the drug. The poster allegedly smoked cannabis on a tourist street and ended up getting quite unwell, according to accounts on social media, she added. Four of the 200 legal merchants selling food, beverages, souvenirs, jewelry, and clothing on the busy street, according to him, have so far been found to be selling cannabis. Khao San Road is being reminded that cannabis is NOT legal there in the ever-winding road to legalization, where the plant has been legalized for growing, selling, and consuming with very few regulations and is now facing criticism for that lack of regulation.

Officials cannot arrest marijuana offenders personally, according to the district chief, but they can alert police to anyone selling or smoking marijuana nearby. She claims that families and other groups who dislike cannabis might be so put off by smoking being authorized that they won’t visit Khao San Road. These patrolling cops keep an eye out for persons smoking in public and warn those who are caught that they could be charged right away if they are stopped by the police. He claimed that from 9 am to 6 pm, inspectors patrol Khao San Road, with a nightly shift keeping watch from 6 pm to 6 am. The president of the Bangkok and Khao San Road Vendors Association, who cautioned that the advantages of a medical tourism boost to the sector, the negative reputation, and internet stories may be more problematic than its worth, supports these crackdowns on cannabis on Khao San Road. The uproar is most likely the result of Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt reporting that he could smell marijuana while out on a run along Khao San Road. Both military soldiers and Chana Songkhram Police are on duty overnight.