WHILE holidaying in Chiang Rai, Thailand in July, a Singaporean and her family ordered a “very nice bowl” of noodle soup during dinner at the hotel restaurant.
The housewife, who was travelling with her husband, elderly mother-in-law and two young children, enjoyed the dish so much that she ordered it again for breakfast.
“I took a closer look at the menu then and saw a small cannabis leaf image next to the picture of the dish,” said the woman who wanted to be known only as Sueanne.
“We were quite shocked. We have seen cannabis in sweets and drinks at specialised shops, but we never thought it would appear in such an ordinary dish,” she said.
Sueanne says there was no other indication in the dish’s name or description that it contained cannabis and the wait staff did not say anything.
“If I had noticed the logo, or if the waiter had told me, I wouldn’t have ordered it,” said Sueanne, adding that it was fortunate that her children did not try the dish.
Cannabis products and dishes have become increasingly common in Thailand recently.
And while it is required for retailers and vendors to explicitly label or tell buyers that there is cannabis in their products, some travellers like Sueanne are still worried.
“It was boiled in the soup like a normal vegetable and looked just like kangkung,” said Sueanne, adding that she did not feel any side effects or mood changes after her meal. — The Straits Times/ANN
