You are allowed to be found. You are not allowed to sell. Here is where the line sits, in plain language.
Asiannabis Community | Cannabis Shop in Thailand | Last verified: 1 August 2026
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Since June 2025, Thai law bans two things outright for cannabis flower: selling it online, and advertising it anywhere.
That sounds like it kills your marketing. It does not. It kills one kind of marketing — the kind built on prices, menus, and bud photos. Everything built on location, credibility, and knowledge is still open, and shops using it are the ones still trading.
About 7,297 of Thailand’s 18,433 shops closed between June 2025 and February 2026. Most did not lose in court. They kept running the old playbook until it caught up with them.
The five things that will lose you your licence
Not a fine. The licence. These trigger revocation on the first finding, with no warning step:
- Selling online — website, social media, messaging app, forum, any computer network.
- Vending machines or automated dispensers.
- Letting customers smoke on your premises.
- Selling to anyone under 20, to students, to pregnant women, or to breastfeeding women without a PT 33 prescription.
- Selling at a temple, a dormitory, or a public park.
Add one more that is not on the revocation list but ends businesses anyway: doing the same thing twice. A second breach of the same rule after a suspension means immediate revocation.
The things that get you suspended for 30 days
- Advertising your flower commercially.
- Not keeping PT 27 and PT 28 records at the shop, or keeping them incomplete.
- Not filing those reports with the registrar.
- Selling or exporting flower that is not certified to Good Agricultural and Collection Practices.
- Not displaying your licence where an inspector can see it.
And 90 days for selling flower without a PT 33 prescription from a licensed practitioner.
Suspensions stack. One inspection can find three problems and take 90 days off you.
What you must not post on Asiannabis, or anywhere public
Think of it as four buckets.
Prices. No retail price for flower. Not in a post, not in a photo of a menu board, not in a reply, not “message me for prices”.
Menus. No strain list with potency figures presented as a catalogue. Discussing a cultivar’s characteristics as horticulture is fine. Listing eight strains with percentages next to an invitation to visit is a menu.
Ordering. No “message to order”, no delivery offers, no payment details, no checkout links. Every sale must be face to face on licensed premises.
Consumption. No smoking photos, no smoke, no bud close-ups used as product shots, no content about getting high.
Also out: health claims that a product treats or cures anything, and anything aimed at people under 20.
What you are welcome to post
This is the part most shops leave on the table.
Be findable. Shop name, full address, opening hours, phone, map link, photos of the space. A directory listing is information, not an advertisement.
Show your credentials. Your licence and licence number. The practitioner who consults at your shop, and their qualifications. Your Good Agricultural and Collection Practices sourcing. In a market where 40 percent of shops have closed, proof that you are one of the compliant ones is your strongest asset.
Teach something. How the prescription process works. What conditions qualify. Why a certificate of analysis matters. How to read one. What good curing looks like. Customers who understand the framework are the ones who come back with a valid prescription instead of an argument.
Answer questions honestly. Members ask about the law, about access, about quality, about what to expect on a first visit. Answering well does more for you than any banner ever did.
Invite people in, as information. “Visit our licensed premises at [address] to consult a practitioner in person.” That is a direction, not a sale.
Rewrite your posts like this
| Instead of | Post this |
|---|---|
| “Gelato 22 percent, 400 baht per gram, message to order” | “We stock indica-dominant cultivars certified to Good Agricultural and Collection Practices. Our practitioner consults Tuesday to Sunday.” |
| Close-up photo of a bud | Photo of your counter, your team, your certificates, or a plant in the room |
| “Delivery across Bangkok” | “Face to face consultation at our licensed premises, [address], 10:00 to 20:00” |
| “Cures insomnia and chronic pain” | “Insomnia and chronic pain are among the conditions a licensed practitioner may prescribe for. Book a consultation to find out if you qualify.” |
| “Happy hour 20 percent off tonight” | Nothing. There is no compliant version of this one. |
Where you can still market, in practice
None of these are explicitly authorised by law. They are simply outside the definition of advertising, and they have not been the target of enforcement. Use them with your eyes open.
- Search visibility. An optimised business profile on mapping services and organic search. This is a directory listing, not an advertisement.
- Educational content on your own site and here. Information about cannabis, not promotion of your product.
- Private, opt-in messaging with age-verified existing customers. Private communication is not public advertising. Do not make health claims even privately, and verify age before you add anyone.
- Customer reviews. Reviews are content written by customers, not advertising by you. Ask for honest ones.
- In-store. What happens inside your licensed premises — menu boards, staff recommendations, consultations — is largely your domain. Just make sure nothing is readable from the street.
Paid advertising on any platform is out. So are the major social platforms as a sales channel; their own policies ban cannabis advertising globally on top of Thai law.
Your storefront
- Modest sign with the business name. Yes.
- Licence number displayed. Usually required, always sensible.
- Oversized leaf graphics, neon, bud imagery, a menu board visible from outside. No.
An inspector standing on the pavement should see a clinic-adjacent business, not a dispensary from a different country.
How this forum handles it
We scan posts automatically for prices attached to flower, order-taking language, strain menus with potency figures, external checkout links, payment details, and consumption imagery.
If something you post crosses the line, we edit it or hide it and tell you why. Repeat cases lose posting rights, and a shop using its sub-category as a sales channel loses the sub-category.
This is not us being difficult. This forum is a computer network, and a sale concluded here is an online sale — a revocation trigger for your licence and a legal problem for the community hosting it. Trimming a post is the cheap outcome.
Questions or disagreement about a flag: reply in the topic or email asiannabisthailand@gmail.com.
Your physical storefront: what signage is legal
Inside Thailand, outdoor signage for cannabis dispensaries must comply with the same advertising prohibition that applies online. A sign on the shopfront that says “Cannabis Flower — 300 baht/gram” is legally identical to a social media post with the same content. The prohibition on advertising cannabis flower does not have a carve-out for physical premises.
What is permitted for exterior signage: the business name, the category of service (“licensed herb dispensary” / “ร้านจำหน่ายสมุนไพรควบคุม”), opening hours, and a statement that a PT 33 prescription is required. Many compliant shops use the DTAM-approved signage language that simply states the premises are licensed under the Controlled Herbs Notification B.E. 2568.
What is prohibited for exterior signage: strain names, THC or CBD percentages, price information, photographs or graphic depictions of cannabis flower (the product itself, not the plant at earlier growth stages), and any claim implying therapeutic effects.
Interior signage has a slightly wider scope. Inside the licensed premises, price lists displayed at the point of sale are not advertisements in the way that public-facing displays are. The internal price board serves the function of a pharmacy dispensing price display, not a promotional tool. The distinction matters: the price board inside must not be visible from outside the premises (closed-premises requirement), and it should not be photographed by customers and shared on social media—something that is easier said than controlled, but the obligation to attempt control rests with the operator.
Working with Thai media and journalists
Press coverage of cannabis businesses exists in a compliance grey area. An interview in which you describe your business, your products, and their prices is not, strictly speaking, an advertisement—provided the resulting article is editorially independent and does not function as paid promotion. In practice, the line between editorial coverage and advertorial content has become increasingly monitored following the April 2026 regulatory tightening.
Patterns that have drawn scrutiny: press releases that include product price lists, “sponsored content” articles on news sites that include purchasing guidance, and video tours of dispensaries posted on YouTube channels with embedded purchase links. The common factor is that these pieces function as direct commercial solicitation regardless of their editorial framing.
Safe approach for media interactions: speak freely about the regulatory environment, the history of your business, the general categories of products you carry, and the compliance framework you operate under. Decline to state product prices, THC percentages, or strain availability in any format that will be published. Journalists covering the sector understand this constraint and professional publications in Thailand generally respect it.
Staff training on marketing decisions
The most frequent source of compliance violations in retail cannabis operations is not deliberate law-breaking—it is staff making real-time marketing decisions without understanding where the legal line sits. A new employee who posts “just got in some amazing Gelato, so smooth, come visit us!” to the shop’s Instagram account has created a violation that is the business owner’s legal liability.
A practical training framework covers three areas. First, what staff are allowed to post from personal accounts when their affiliation with the dispensary is visible. The answer is: nothing about specific products, availability, or customer experience with specific strains. Second, what customer questions staff can answer on messaging apps versus in person. Answering a Line message that asks “what’s your best sativa?” with a product name and price is an online sale offer; the same answer in person is a face-to-face interaction inside the licensed premises. Third, who in the business has authority to post to official accounts. The answer should be: one or two named individuals who have read the advertising prohibition in its original Thai text.
Written training acknowledgements signed by each staff member serve two purposes: they create genuine understanding, and they provide evidence that the business took reasonable steps to prevent violations if a staff-generated post is later investigated.
Handling customer reviews: the rules around responses
Customer reviews present a specific compliance challenge because the business cannot control what customers write. A review that says “amazing White Widow, 28% THC, best price in town” is not the dispensary’s legal liability. The dispensary’s response to that review is.
A compliant response to a positive review acknowledges the customer’s visit without amplifying the product-specific content: “Thank you for visiting us—we look forward to seeing you again.” A non-compliant response repeats or endorses the product claim: “Glad you enjoyed the White Widow! Our premium selection starts at…” The second response transforms the customer’s review into a dispensary advertisement.
For negative reviews that mention a product by name or price, the same principle applies: respond to the experience, not the product. Never respond by providing pricing information, product comparisons, or THC claims in a public forum.
Clinic and doctor partnerships: what is and is not permitted
Some dispensaries have established relationships with Thai traditional medicine clinics or individual practitioners to facilitate the PT 33 prescription process. These arrangements are regulated but not prohibited. The compliance requirements for these partnerships are distinct from advertising rules.
A dispensary may operate within the same premises as a licensed Thai traditional medicine clinic, provided the dispensing function is physically separated and signage makes clear that two distinct licensed operations are present. This co-location model is legal and has been adopted by several operations in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
What is not permitted is any arrangement where the practitioner is incentivised to issue PT 33 prescriptions that are then filled at a specific dispensary through a revenue-sharing or referral fee model. This arrangement constitutes commercial inducement of a healthcare professional and is prohibited under both the Controlled Herbs Notification and the provisions of the Medical Profession Act that govern professional conduct.
Legitimate referral relationships—where a practitioner refers patients to a dispensary they trust for quality or proximity reasons, without financial incentive—are not prohibited, but any documentation of the relationship should be reviewed by a Thai lawyer to confirm its structure does not inadvertently create liability.
The inspection process for shop owners: what to expect and how to prepare
DTAM and provincial public health officers conduct both scheduled and unannounced inspections. For licensed dispensaries, the standard inspection checklist covers: licence validity and posting, practitioner credential and on-duty status, premises closure, stock records, PT 33 prescription log, and a visual scan for prohibited signage. The entire inspection typically takes 30 to 90 minutes for a single-location operation.
Inspectors are required to show identification and a written inspection order before entering the licensed area. If they do not produce these documents, you may politely ask for them before granting access to stock areas—this is a legal right, not a confrontation. For exterior and public-facing areas of the shop, inspectors may observe without documentation.
Preparation that makes inspections faster and less stressful: keep a single folder (physical or digital) with the licence, the practitioner’s certificate, proof of the practitioner’s presence schedule, the latest stock count, and the PT 33 prescription log indexed by date. An inspector who can find every document in five minutes is an inspector who leaves in 30 minutes rather than 90.
If an inspector finds a potential violation: they will record the finding in writing before leaving and give you an opportunity to provide an immediate response or explanation. Do not argue at the inspection site—record the finding, sign the inspection record only to acknowledge receipt (not to admit the violation), and contact a Thai lawyer before submitting your written response within the 15-day window.
Managing social media accounts for a cannabis shop: a practical checklist
Before each post, apply this five-question filter:
- Does this post name a specific product with a price? If yes, do not post.
- Does this post include a THC, CBD, or terpene percentage as a quality or purchase signal? If yes, do not post.
- Does this post offer delivery, online ordering, or a payment link? If yes, do not post.
- Does this post make a health claim—that the product treats, cures, or alleviates a specific condition? If yes, do not post.
- Does this post identify a jurisdiction where cannabis is not legal and imply that customers there could purchase from you? If yes, do not post.
If the post passes all five questions, it can be published. If it fails any one of them, rewrite it until it passes, or do not publish it.
This checklist applies to all accounts connected to the business: the official shop account, personal accounts of owners that feature the shop prominently, any “ambassador” accounts the shop is associated with, and any group or community the shop administers.
Building compliant word-of-mouth: what actually works legally
Word-of-mouth is the primary growth channel for compliant cannabis retail in Thailand because it operates through personal communication rather than advertising. Legal personal recommendations—one patient telling another patient about a dispensary they trust—are not advertising and are not prohibited.
What helps word-of-mouth develop without violating advertising rules: consistent product quality, a clear and professional PT 33 process that patients find respectful of their time, staff who can answer questions about strain characteristics in person without over-claiming effects, and a physical environment that patients feel comfortable returning to.
Online communities where patients share experiences—including this forum’s Medical Cannabis category—are governed by the same personal-experience principle. A patient writing “I’ve been going to X dispensary for four months and I trust their sourcing” is not an advertisement. The dispensary amplifying or responding to that post in a way that incorporates price or product claims converts it into one.
Summary checklist for shop owners
Physical premises: licence posted visibly inside, practitioner on duty whenever dispensing, premises closed to public during dispensing, stock stored in locked, segregated area.
Documentation: PT 33 prescription log current and on-premises, stock ledger updated daily, adverse event log maintained.
Digital: no price lists on any public channel, no online ordering function, no THC percentage claims in posts or responses, staff trained on what they can and cannot post personally.
Inspections: single compliance folder ready at all times, staff know to request inspector credentials, do not admit violations verbally—record findings in writing and respond within 15 days in writing with legal support.
This checklist does not replace a compliance review by a Thai lawyer. It is a starting point for the operational habits that keep a dispensary below the inspection threshold for most routine site visits.
Sources (Final)
- Ministry of Public Health Notification on Controlled Herbs (Cannabis) B.E. 2568 — Royal Gazette, 26 June 2025
- Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine administrative guideline on licence suspension and revocation, June 2026
- Protection and Promotion of Thai Traditional Medicine Knowledge Act B.E. 2542, Section 52
- Ministerial Regulation No. 2 B.E. 2569 on controlled herb licensing — published 30 April 2026
- Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979), provisions on advertising and misleading commercial communications
- Medical Profession Act B.E. 2525 (1982), provisions on professional conduct and commercial inducement
- Thai Traditional Medicine Professional Act B.E. 2556 (2013), licensing and conduct requirements
- Food and Drug Administration Thailand. (2026). Guidance on Cannabis Retail Premises Inspection Standards. Bangkok: FDA.
General information, not legal advice. Talk to a Thai lawyer about your own shop.