Getting a Licensed Cannabis Export from Thailand to the Buyer: Transit Countries, Trade Terms and the Documents (Part 2 of 2)

💊 Medical Cannabis 💡GACP – GMP – EU-GMP – Export
1

This article is for operators who already hold Thai licences to export cannabis flower and who have a laboratory report that passed every test. Part 1 covered getting paid: banks, currency and Thai exchange-control rules. This Part 2 covers getting the goods to the buyer. It explains which transit countries to avoid, which trade terms to use, and which document errors get shipments detained.

Most exporters make these choices too late, after the contract is signed. The routing and the trade terms decide which countries handle your cargo and who must clear it at the destination. Set them before you quote a price.

This is Part 2. Part 1: Getting Paid for a Licensed Cannabis Export from Thailand: Banks, Currency and Exchange-Control Rules (Part 1 of 2)

The Thai legal basis

Cannabis flower is a controlled herb under the Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Controlled Herbs (Cannabis), B.E. 2568. This notification has been in force since 26 June 2025. You need a permit to export flower. Exported flower must come from a cultivation site certified under GACP (Good Agricultural and Collection Practice, the quality standard for growing and harvesting medicinal plants).

The Cannabis Control Act is still only a draft. The Cabinet approved the draft on 22 September 2026 and sent it to the House of Representatives. It is not law yet.

Everything below assumes your full set of licences is already in place. The forum’s export glossary explains the export terms used here.

1. Transit countries: a risk that has nothing to do with your buyer

Scope: this section covers only licensed commercial consignments that move under export and import authorisations. It is not guidance for carrying cannabis as a passenger, in luggage or by courier. The seizure figures in this article describe illegal smuggling attempts, not licensed consignments.

A country’s controlled-goods rules still apply to goods that only pass through it and are never sold there. Singapore shows how strict this can be.

Singapore Customs says the transhipment agent must get a Customs transhipment permit before arranging transhipment. Transhipment means moving goods from one ship or plane to another without importing them. Transhipping without a permit is an offence under regulation 3(1) of Singapore’s Regulation of Imports and Exports Regulations.

For a first conviction, the fine can reach S$100,000 or three times the value of the goods, whichever is greater. The court can also impose up to two years in prison, or both a fine and prison. Source: Singapore Customs, “Transhipment Procedures Overview” (https://www.customs.gov.sg/doing-business/transhipment-operations/transhipment-procedures/transhipment-procedures-overview/).

Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act also covers import and export. Trafficking more than 500 g of cannabis may attract the death penalty. A free-trade zone is a port area kept outside normal customs territory. The public sources checked for this article do not show whether transhipment through a Singapore free-trade zone counts as “import”. Because nobody can say for sure, do not route cargo there to find out.

Hubs to route around, based on their legal status and enforcement: Singapore, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Doha, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, the Saudi hubs and the hubs in mainland China.

Hong Kong Customs regularly publishes its seizures from passengers. For example, on 20 April 2026 it seized about 10 kg of suspected cannabis buds, worth about HK$2 million. They came from a passenger arriving from Bangkok via Hanoi (Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected cannabis buds worth about $2 million at airport (with photos)).

Air or sea is not the question that matters. Ask instead: how many countries does this consignment touch, and does each one see a copy of the export authorisation? The UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 is the international treaty that governs this trade. Its Article 31 sets the transit rules:

  • Article 31(11): a country that is party to the treaty must not let drugs bound for another country pass through its territory unless its authorities are shown a copy of the export authorisation.
  • Article 31(12): transit authorities must take all due measures to stop the goods being diverted to illegal use.
  • Article 31(14): these transit rules do not apply when the consignment is on an aircraft that does not land in the transit country.

For controlled goods, a single direct routing is better than a cheaper routing with two stops.

What to do: Before booking, ask your freight forwarder for the full routing in writing. A freight forwarder is the company that books and manages the shipment for you. The routing must list every airport or port where the cargo lands or changes carrier. For each stop, confirm that its authorities will receive a copy of the export authorisation. If a stop is on the list of hubs above, ask for another routing, even if it costs more. The purpose is to make sure no country on the way can treat the cargo as undeclared drugs.

Translator’s note: Many cheap air and sea routes from Thailand to Europe or Australia connect through the hubs listed above. Do not assume your forwarder knows the cargo is controlled. Tell them in writing. Ask for routing options before you agree a price with the buyer, because a direct routing changes your freight cost.

2. Trade terms (Incoterms): why “delivered duty paid” is the wrong choice

Incoterms® 2020 are the standard trade terms published by the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce). Each term sets who pays which costs and where the risk passes from seller to buyer.

Under DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), the seller bears all costs and risks up to the destination. This includes import clearance, duties and taxes. Under DAP (Delivered at Place), the seller delivers to the destination but the buyer clears import.

For a consignment on a narcotics schedule, the destination country’s authority issues the import certificate to the importer, in the importer’s name. A Thai exporter cannot be the importer of record for a controlled substance in the EU or Australia. The importer of record is the party legally responsible for clearing goods into the country. Under DDP, the seller would be promising to do something the destination’s law forbids.

Terms that fit:

  • CIP (Carriage and Insurance Paid To) or CPT (Carriage Paid To) when the cargo uses more than one kind of transport. Risk passes to the buyer when you hand the goods to the first carrier, and the buyer clears import. Under Incoterms 2020, CIP requires insurance under Institute Cargo Clauses (A), the widest standard level of cargo insurance cover.
  • DAP if the buyer wants a delivered price but still handles import clearance.

Terms that do not fit:

  • DDP, for the reason above.
  • EXW (Ex Works), because it leaves export formalities to the buyer. Only the Thai licence holder may complete them.
  • FOB (Free On Board), CFR (Cost and Freight) or CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) for container or air cargo. These terms are designed for goods loaded directly onto a ship. Container and air cargo is handed over earlier, at a terminal, so the contract’s risk point does not match what really happens. This mistake is common across all trade, not only in cannabis.

What to do: Quote CIP or CPT, or DAP if the buyer wants a delivered price. Remove DDP and EXW from your quotation templates, and name the buyer as importer of record in the contract. The purpose is that each party only promises what its own country’s law allows it to do.

3. Payment and transit errors that get shipments detained

The Single Convention uses the term “export authorisation” for the export permit, and “import certificate” for the importing country’s matching approval.

  • No copy of the export authorisation travelling with the goods. Article 31(6) requires a copy with every consignment. Under Article 31(10), consignments that enter or leave a country without an export authorisation “shall be detained by the competent authorities”.
  • A transit country that was not shown a copy (Article 31(11)).
  • A product description that differs between the invoice, the packing list, the air waybill (the transport document for air cargo) and the authorisation. Customs checks these documents against the authorisation. Banks check the same documents before they release payment.
  • A quantity above the import certificate, or a shipment outside the validity dates of either certificate. The Convention itself does not say that an excess cancels the whole consignment. However, importing authorities often refuse or hold such shipments. Check the destination country’s own rule.

Several related checks are covered in other forum topics. These include matching batch numbers against the certificate of analysis (how to read a certificate of analysis). They also include HS codes (the international number codes customs uses to classify goods) and the scope of the phytosanitary (plant health) certificate. The full licence chain is covered in The Export Pathway, and testing in Testing Before Export. Storage, drying and curing are in the forum’s guides on drying and curing and storage.

How common are seizures? The Thai Customs Department reported 3,309 cannabis cases between 1 October 2025 and 30 June 2026. More than 37,210 kg was seized, and almost all cases were attempted exports. Source: Vietnam News Agency/VietnamPlus, 16 July 2026 (Thailand, UK step up cooperation to combat illegal cannabis smuggling).

The source does not say how this cannabis was shipped, but these were illegal export attempts, not licensed consignments. The public sources checked for this article show no seizure in transit of a shipment that carried correct Article 31 documents. For a legitimate exporter, the figures still matter. Customs is likely to examine Thai-origin consignments more closely than the same goods from other origins.

What to do: Before every shipment, lay the invoice, packing list, air waybill and export authorisation side by side. Check that the product description, quantity and dates match exactly. Check that the quantity stays within the import certificate and that both certificates are valid on the shipping date. The purpose is to find a mismatch at your desk, before customs or the bank finds it.

Translator’s note: Thai-origin cargo gets closer inspection, so add extra days for inspection to the delivery date you promise the buyer. Plan how the flower will be stored if it is held. Tropical heat and humidity in a warehouse can damage dried flower before customs releases it.

What has actually gone wrong on a shipment for you: the money side or the movement side? The failure points above come from the rules, not from real case files. One real account of a held consignment, a refused wire or a closed account would be worth more than this whole list. Please share it, or ask your questions, below this topic.

This article is reference information for readers operating legally in their own jurisdictions. It is not legal, banking, tax, customs or financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation about any bank, payment method or route. Exchange-control thresholds, US drug scheduling, sanctions positions and narcotics law change often. At least one official source consulted was out of date when this article was written. Before you ship or invoice, check every figure with your authorised bank, your freight forwarder and a qualified lawyer.

Further reading on Asiannabis

References