This topic answers practical questions from people who travel to Thailand to use cannabis as medicine. It covers four points:
- what a lawful consultation looks like
- what a prescription allows you to do
- what you cannot take home with you
- what has changed since June 2025
The rule behind everything else
Cannabis flower in Thailand is a controlled herb. This is a legal category under the Thai Traditional Medicine Protection Act B.E. 2542 (1999). For a controlled herb, research, export, sale and processing each need a licence.
Thai laws are dated in the Buddhist Era (B.E.), which runs 543 years ahead of the Western calendar. So B.E. 2568 is 2025, and B.E. 2542 is 1999.
The rule comes from the Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Controlled Herbs (Cannabis), B.E. 2568. It was published on 25 June 2025 in the Royal Gazette, Thailand’s official journal for laws, and took effect on 26 June 2025, the day after publication, as the Notification itself provides.
Three points in the Notification matter to a traveller:
- You need a prescription. Flower may only be sold against a PT 33 prescription. PT 33 is short for Phor Thor 33 (ภ.ท.33), the official prescription form. A licensed practitioner writes it for their own patient. The Notification lists medical doctors, dentists, pharmacists, Thai traditional medicine practitioners (including applied Thai traditional medicine practitioners and folk healers) and Thai traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.
- The limit is 30 days. One prescription covers no more than 30 days of use.
- There is no advertising and no online sale. Advertising cannabis flower is prohibited. So is selling it online.
Before you book anything, read the summary of the current rules in Thailand’s Cannabis Rules, 2022 to 2026 (Part 2). You will then know which steps a lawful clinic has to follow.
What a lawful consultation looks like
Translator’s note: the original article names only the prescription. The checks below are general, practical steps. Each one comes with its purpose.
- Expect a real consultation before any sale. The practitioner should ask about your condition and your medicines before writing a PT 33. A sale with no prescription, or with a prescription written without any assessment, tells you the seller is not following the Notification. For the 2026 action against such prescriptions, see The Blank Prescription Problem.
- Check the licences. The prescriber needs a professional licence. The place that sells you flower needs a licence to sell a controlled herb. Selling a controlled herb without a licence breaks Section 46 of the 1999 Act.
- Bring a written list of your medicines and diagnoses. This lets the prescriber check for interactions and for conditions where cannabis needs extra care. Use Drug Interactions: The List to Take to Your Doctor and Contraindications and Cautions to prepare it.
- Check the amount you are given. It should not go beyond 30 days of use. A larger amount means the seller is ignoring the rule.
What you can do: before your appointment, go through How to Evaluate a Cannabis Shop in Thailand. Tick off every item.
What a prescription allows, and what it does not
A PT 33 lets you buy flower legally inside Thailand, for up to 30 days of use.
It does not let you carry the product out of Thailand. Travellers get this wrong all the time.
Translator’s note: ask the prescriber to match the amount to the days you will actually be in Thailand. This way your supply runs out before your flight, and you are not left with flower you cannot lawfully take home.
The trip home: check this first
Many countries in the region have very strict drug laws. In Singapore, for example, cannabis is a Class A controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and bringing in any product that contains cannabis is an offence, whatever the amount. So the trip home is the first thing to check, before you book a consultation.
Translator’s note: there are two risks on the way home.
- On the Thai side. Exporting a controlled herb without a licence breaks Section 46 of the 1999 Act. Under Section 78, the penalty is up to 1 year in prison, a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both. In May 2025 Thailand’s health minister said that taking cannabis out of the country without permission from the authorities is against Thai law. A PT 33 is a prescription, not that permission.
- At transit and arrival. Every airport on your route applies its own law, not Thai law. A Thai prescription gives you no protection there.
What you can do: list every country on your route home, including transit stops. Then read the country sections in Cannabis Laws Across Asia and Key Global Markets, 2026 (Part 1) and Part 2. Check them before you pay for a consultation, so you know whether your trip home carries risk.
What has changed since June 2025
Translator’s note: the rules have changed several times since the Notification. In date order:
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| 26 June 2025 | The Notification on Controlled Herbs (Cannabis), B.E. 2568 takes effect. Flower is sold only on a PT 33, for up to 30 days. Advertising and online sale are prohibited. |
| 26 April 2026 | The Ministerial Regulation on Cannabis or Hemp Extracts B.E. 2569 takes effect. Only three kinds of body can get a licence for extracts with more than 0.2% THC: Thai juristic persons (such as companies) that are not “foreign” under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542, state agencies, and the Thai Red Cross Society. |
| 30 April 2026 | The Ministerial Regulation on Controlled Herbs (No. 2) B.E. 2569 takes effect. It tightens the criteria for a licence to sell cannabis flower. |
| June 2026 | Action against prescriptions issued without a proper consultation. See the topic linked in the consultation section. |
| 22 September 2026 | The Cabinet approves the draft Cannabis Control Act and sends it to the House of Representatives. It is not law yet. |
Under Section 4 of the 1999 Act, a ministerial regulation or notification takes effect when it is published in the Royal Gazette. An instrument can also set its own start date: the 2025 Notification took effect on the day after publication. For details, see Thailand’s Two Ministerial Regulations of B.E. 2569 and The Draft Cannabis Control Act.
What you can do: check the rules again in the month before you travel. Look at the date on every guide you read, so you are not relying on rules from before June 2025.
What this board does not do
This board does not recommend clinics, arrange consultations or put anyone in touch with a supplier. Doing so would be advertising, and the Notification prohibits it.
For the same reason, please do not post clinic names, prices or contact details in replies. The forum rules on this are in Advertising and Selling Rules for Cannabis in Thailand.
What you can do: ask your question below this topic. Give your home country, your transit stops and the length of your stay. Leave out personal medical details, and leave out clinic or shop names.
Further reading on the forum
- Thailand Cannabis Law Update 2026: What Farmers Need to Know: the legal background. Read this first.
- Cannabis Laws Across Asia and Key Global Markets, 2026: the regional overview linked in the section on the trip home.
- Tourist Must Know: Cannabis Rules for Visitors to Thailand: general rules for visitors.
References
- Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Controlled Herbs (Cannabis), B.E. 2568 (2025). Royal Gazette, published 25 June 2025, in force 26 June 2025. Text also on the DTAM website: https://www.dtam.moph.go.th/sub-law/42864/
- Thai Traditional Medicine Protection Act B.E. 2542 (1999): Sections 4, 46 and 78.
- Ministerial Regulation on Cannabis or Hemp Extracts B.E. 2569 (2026), in force 26 April 2026.
- Ministerial Regulation on Controlled Herbs (No. 2) B.E. 2569 (2026), in force 30 April 2026.