Meet the people in Chiang Mai riding high and building businesses on the legalization of cannabis.
Bonno
Chiang Mai
Mar 22, 2023
Thailand decriminalized the use of marijuana in June.
Recreational dispensaries launched across the country as chefs infused the plant in food.
Insider spoke to three people on the forefront of marijuana tourism in northern Thailand.
In June, Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to decriminalize the use of marijuana. It comes after decades of being classified as a Category 5 drug.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana, has had a long history in Thailand.
Traditionally, the plant was used by locals in their food and medicine.
But in 1935, using marijuana — whether as a drug or otherwise — was criminalized.
And until last year, anyone using or possessing marijuana could face five years in prison, and a fine of up to 100,000 Thai baht, or $2,900.
In the late 2010s, the Thai government appeared to soften their stance towards marijuana.
It was approved for medicinal use in 2019. Just two years later, those with a license could use and grow the plant.
The marijuana industry in Thailand is a fast growing market and a cash crop that's expected to be worth $661 million by 2024, per a report by market research firm Prohibition Partners.
In June, to rile up interest in marijuana, the Thai government gave away a million cannabis plants to locals.
Businesses, too, began riding on this newfound opportunity — and that included the famed five-star luxury hotel chain Anantara in Chiang Mai, which then built a clientele with the country's first-ever marijuana-infused spa packages.
And these were just a few of the ways Thailand began building a tourism landscape around marijuana. Chiang Mai, the largest city in the north, is one of the places where these changes are most visible.
Just a few weeks after its legalization, Insider traveled to the city and spoke to three owners of dispensaries and restaurants to see what it's like to be on the forefront of marijuana tourism in Thailand.
Shawn Healy and Amanda Gedney are Americans who run Green Dog, a marijuana dispensary, in Chiang Mai.
Healy and Gedney first moved to Thailand in 2016. Before traveling to Thailand, the couple were university students and had part-time jobs.
Healy worked at an animal hospital, while Gedney had a job in the fashion industry.
A New York native, Gedney said she started taking cannabidiol, or CBD, to help with her stomach pains.
"I used to take a lot of medications in the US. But since coming to Thailand, I haven't taken any medication," Gedney said, adding that she became a firm believer in the health benefits of CBD.
Healy, who's from Malboro, New Jersey, used marijuana when he lived in the US, but never sold it or worked in a dispensary.
In 2021, Healy, 29, and Gedney, 28, launched Green Dog with several Thai partners. The dispensary, which is located in an art space in Chiang Mai, is housed in a bright green hut.
The shop sells weed, bongs, and, at one point in time, food made with hemp leaves.
When Insider visited Green Dog in July, several foreigners, mostly from countries where marijuana is criminalized, spent time curiously taking photos and perusing the paraphernalia on display. A few regulars, mostly expats, also dropped by to order their weekly dose of weed.
Healy and Gedney source most of the shop's marijuana from local farms.
Green Dog was one of the first shops in Chiang Mai to introduce a menu with marijuana, which, at the time, was still loosely regulated in Thailand.
Today, restaurants need to be licensed to serve marijuana infused into food.
Some of the notable dishes the shop once sold include fried marijuana leaves, gelato with cannabis seeds, and rice bowls with fan leaves.
"A few things have changed and we are no longer allowed to sell prepared food and cannabis in the same building,"
But the shop still sells marijuana-infused beverages, which continue to remain popular among the shop's customers.
Dried hemp leaf tea, which is tea infused with dried leaves from the male cannabis plant, is the shop's best seller as it helps soothe their customers, Gedney said.
"We want people to be able to spend the whole day not worrying, and to just relax," she added.
