Behind Thailand’s Push to Recriminalize Cannabis

Four years after Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, its booming market is at a crossroads. Initial high hopes for a tourism surge and a billion-dollar industry have been replaced by an oversupply of shops and a fierce public backlash.
On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Patpicha Tanakasempipat about what went wrong and whether the industry can weather a political firestorm.
Read more: Weed Backlash Grows in Thailand as Kids Turn to Cannabis (bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-21/thai-el…)Hosted by K. Oanh Ha; Produced by Yang Yang, Naomi Ng; Reported by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Edited by Paddy Hirsch, Julia Weaver
Fact-checking by Eleanor Harrison-Dengate; Engineering by Taka Yasuzawa
Senior Producer Naomi Shavin; Deputy Executive Producer Julia Weaver; Executive Producer Nicole Beemsterboer
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