Central Thailand
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| Central Thailand | |
|---|---|
| ActiveRecorded as grown here since 2000 | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 15.680000, 100.330000 |
| Country | Thailand |
| Provinces/States | Bangkok,Kamphaeng Phet Province,Phichit Province,Phitsanulok Province,Sukhothai Province,Phetchabun Province,Nakhon Sawan Province,Uthai Thani Province,Chai Nat Province,Lopburi Province,Sing Buri Province,Ang Thong Province,Saraburi Province,Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province,Suphan Buri Province,Nakhon Nayok Province,Pathum Thani Province,Nonthaburi Province,Nakhon Pathom Province,Samut Prakan Province,Samut Sakhon Province,Samut Songkhram Province |
| Area | 91,000 km² |
| Growing history | |
| Dated accessions | 1999 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Central Thailand is a cannabis growing region in Thailand, between Northern Thailand and the Gulf of Thailand. It takes in Bangkok and 21 provinces: Kamphaeng Phet, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Phetchabun, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Chai Nat, Lopburi, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Saraburi, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Suphan Buri, Nakhon Nayok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram. Western Thailand lies to the west, Northeastern Thailand to the north-east and Eastern Thailand to the south-east.
A herbarium sheet collected in Phitsanulok in 1999 shows hemp grown for fibre.[1] Three districts of Phetchabun were opened to hemp under a 2016 regulation.[2] In 2019 the Government Pharmaceutical Organization opened in Pathum Thani what Khaosod English called the country's first legal cannabis plantation.[3]
Geography
The Phitsanulok sheet gives an altitude of 500 m and no closer locality.[1] The districts named in the hemp regulation are Mueang Phetchabun, Lom Kao and Khao Kho, all in Phetchabun.[2] Licensed growers since 2019 include sites at Thanyaburi in Pathum Thani[3] and at Suk Ruethai in Huai Khot District of Uthai Thani.[4]
Cultivation history
Before 2019
The ethnobotanist Marie Alexandrine Martin wrote in 1975 that cultivation in Thailand was no more widespread than in Cambodia, "except perhaps in the north and in a few central regions".[5]: 67 P. Suksathan collected a plant in Phitsanulok on 28 April 1999 with the field note "Cultivated for fiber."[1]
Under a ministerial regulation on hemp approved by the Cabinet on 6 September 2016, Mueang Phetchabun, Lom Kao and Khao Kho were among 15 districts in six provinces where hemp could be grown; for the first three years only government bodies could apply for a licence.[2] In January 2018 Phetchabun was one of five provinces with pilot plantings of hemp under a controlled system.[6]
Licensed growing
The Government Pharmaceutical Organization opened a 100-square-metre greenhouse in Thanyaburi District, Pathum Thani, on 27 February 2019. The plants were to be grown indoors, with their roots suspended in the air.[3] On 12 March 2021 the deputy agriculture minister visited the greenhouse of the Suk Ruethai Safe Agriculture community enterprise in Huai Khot, Uthai Thani. Fifteen community enterprises from every district of the province had joined its medical cannabis project.[4]
Enforcement
In the months after medical cannabis was legalised in 2019, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board found people growing cannabis without permission in 11 provinces, among them Suphan Buri and Pathum Thani.[7] In Bangkok, police seized nearly 1,000 plants from three climate-controlled floors of a commercial building in Lak Si District in January 2025,[8] and 1,685 plants from a warehouse at Bang Kradi in Bang Khun Thian District on 16 December 2025.[9]
Growing Areas
No growing areas documented yet.
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Growing area | Province | Collected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suksathan 1669 (1999) | Suksathan 1669 herbarium specimen, Phitsanulok (1999) | Phitsanulok Province | ||
| ZOM-THA-001-0020210005 | Dvaravati General Population 2021 |
Recent news
No recent news items.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Cannabis sp., QBG 14364". QBG Herbarium Database. Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden Herbarium. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 จตุพร พ่วงทอง (26 January 2018). "ป.ป.ส.พาตะลุยแปลง "กัญชง" – ชมวิถีชุมชนม้ง ชีวิตยึดโยง ใยกัญชง ตั้งแต่เกิด-จนตาย" [The narcotics board tours the hemp plots: a Hmong community bound to hemp fibre from birth to death]. Matichon (in ไทย). Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Itthipongmaetee, Chayanit (28 February 2019). "Thailand Officially Unveils 1st Legal Pot Plantation (Photos)". Khaosod English. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 อรอุมา ศรีสมัย (12 March 2021). "ดัน "กัญชา" เป็นพืชเศรษฐกิจทางเลือกใหม่" [Pushing cannabis as a new alternative cash crop]. Thansettakij (in ไทย). Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ Martin, Marie Alexandrine (1975). "Ethnobotanical Aspects of Cannabis in Southeast Asia". In Rubin, Vera (ed.). Cannabis and Culture. The Hague: Mouton. pp. 63–76. doi:10.1515/9783110812060.63.
- ↑ เอกชัย จั่นทอง (25 January 2018). "พัฒนากัญชง...ไม่ใช่กัญชา แปรความหวังสร้างรายได้เกษตรกร" [Developing hemp, not cannabis: turning hope into income for farmers]. Post Today (in ไทย). Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ "Public warned against growing cannabis without official permission". Pattaya Mail. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ "Large-scale illegal cannabis cultivation in Bangkok busted". Nation Thailand. 29 January 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ "Three Vietnamese Arrested in Bangkok Warehouse with 1,600 Cannabis Plants". Khaosod English. 17 December 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2026.