Thailand to recriminalise cannabis as PM vows to get tough on drugs

FILE PHOTO: Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin speaks during the "Microsoft Build: AI Day" event in Bangkok, Thailand, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File Photo

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will re-list cannabis as a narcotic by year-end, its prime minister said on Tuesday, in a stunning U-turn just two years after becoming one of the first countries in Asia to decriminalise its recreational use.

The moves comes despite rapid growth of a domestic retail sector for marijuana, with tens of thousands of shops and businesses springing up in Thailand in the past two years in an industry projected to be worth up to $1.2 billion by 2025.