--- description: Thailand is the first country in Asia—and only the third in the world, after Canada and Uruguay—to decriminalize cannabis nationwide. title: Inside Thailand's Complicated Legalization of Weed image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b6ae1932c0dc686/698a34eb22fb850ccce2dcc9/THAI-WEED_JW.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Thailand](/tag/thailand/) ## Thailand Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Inside Thailand's Complicated Legalization of Weed by [Aria Chen](/author/aria-chen/) ## Aria Chen Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2022 2:31 PM CUT  Cedric Arnold for TIME Video by [Aria Chen](/author/aria-chen/) ## Aria Chen Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2022 2:31 PM CUT ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6208814/thailand-weed-legalization-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6208814/thailand-weed-legalization-video/"},"headline":"Inside Thailand's Complicated Legalization of Weed","datePublished":"2022-08-26T14:31:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:40:09.967Z","description":"Thailand is the first country in Asia—and only the third in the world, after Canada and Uruguay—to decriminalize cannabis nationwide. The Thai government is pushing for marijuana to become the new cash crop but has insisted that it was not legalizing recreational pot use. Uncertainty about current regulations leaves many businesses and growers unable to plan their next moves.","url":"https://time.com/6208814/thailand-weed-legalization-video/","keywords":["Thailand","video"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b6ae1932c0dc686/698a34eb22fb850ccce2dcc9/THAI-WEED_JW.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aria Chen","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aria-chen/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b6ae1932c0dc686/698a34eb22fb850ccce2dcc9/THAI-WEED_JW.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Inside Thailand's Complicated Legalization of Weed","caption":"","creditText":"Cedric Arnold for TIME Video","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/thailand/","name":"Thailand"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6208814/thailand-weed-legalization-video/","name":"Inside Thailand's Complicated Legalization of Weed"}}]}] ```