When Thailand legalised cannabis for medical use in June 2022, thousands rushed to stake their claim, including small-time farmer Tukta Sinnin.
The 43-year-old pumped in nearly 500,000 baht (RM65,120) to grow more than 400 cannabis plants on her land in Nakhon Phanom.
However, after nearly a year, Tukta has not sold any of her cannabis crop, let alone turned a profit.
“I’m very disappointed. We lost money. Nobody wants to buy our crop,” she said.
With the local medical marijuana market projected to be worth about 43 billion baht (RM5.6bil) by 2025, the move to delist the cannabis plant as a narcotic was intended to not just boost national income, but also to help small- and medium-sized businesses and rural farmers earn extra income.
Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, whose Bhumjaithai Party had championed the legalisation of medical cannabis, had even said he wanted to turn Nakhon Phanom into “Cannabis City” to boost its economy and tourism appeal.
Sold on the potential earnings, farmers such as Tukta diverted land and resources from their rice or rubber plantations to start outdoor cannabis fields.
A handful even invested in indoor greenhouses, said Dr Banchob Promsa, leader of the Cannabis Community Enterprise Network in Nakhon Phanom.
“But when the crop was ready, we couldn’t sell it,” he said.
Dr Banchob was an early adopter of cannabis farming in Nakhon Phanom.
He obtained approval to grow the plant shortly after Thailand in 2019 first allowed the limited use of cannabis for medical purposes.
Today, he leads a collective of about 200 farmers.
In 2022, they signed an agreement with a third-party business, which promised the farmers would earn 5,000 baht (RM651) to 30,000 baht (RM3,907) per kilogram of dried cannabis flowers, depending on the quality.
However, the third party has not been able to find any buyers willing to match that price, said Dr Banchob, who added that the wholesale price of dried flowers has dropped drastically.
Before June 2022, dried cannabis buds fetched about 5,000 baht (RM651) to 7,500 baht (RM976) per kilogram. But the legal change led to more than 1.38 million growers entering the industry, and as a result of oversupply and price-cutting, market prices are now around 500 baht (RM65) to 2,000 baht (RM260).
“We couldn’t make a profit. So we decided to wait until prices get better,” said Dr Banchob, who has about 36kg of dried cannabis plants vacuum-sealed and stored in his shed. These can be kept for six months. — The Straits Times/ANN
