Thai festival visitors on a high

Enjoying the festivities: A man wearing a First Nations-inspired costume during the first day of the inaugural Pan Ram weed festival in the Thai northeastern province of Buriram. — AFP

Buriram: A Buddhist monk fishes out a vial of cannabis oil from his robe and puts a drop under his tongue – one of many flocking to a weed festival in northeastern Thailand, where excitement is building over a medical marijuana boom.

Thailand became the first country in South-East Asia to legalise marijuana for medicinal purposes last year, joining a growing list of governments including Canada, Australia, Israel and more than half the US states.