Highland: Thailand's Marijuana Awakening (2017): Season 1, Episode 1 - Origins - full transcript

In the wake of a failed war on drugs,

attitudes in Thailand are opening up

about marijuana policy and culture.

Cancer patients are self-medicating
with cannabis,

weed magazines are launching,

local growers
are growing high quality buds,

and bong shops are sprouting up
like toadstools.

The conservative military junta government

is even considering decriminalization
but the herb is still very much illegal

and getting caught with weed can land you
a lengthy jail sentence.

I am Sebastian Perry for Coconuts TV



Welcome to Highland

[groovy music]

[Sebastian]
Thailand, home to 68 million people

and the second largest economy
in Southeast Asia.

Thailand is still an emerging market,

but it has been
globally connected for years.

Coming here for the first time,

I knew its reputation
as a tropical paradise,

a place where Westerners
came to enjoy fun, sun,

and to get down all night long.

I had also heard the horror stories

of a heavy handed legal system

known for long sentences
for drug convictions.

What I was surprised to discover



is that while other Asian countries

are moving
towards stricter drug enforcement,

in Thailand, the opposite is true.

Perhaps the greatest influence
on Thailand's marijuana policy

has come from the U.S.,

where, as of early 2017,

medical use is legal in 28 states

and recreational use
is legal in eight states.

Like in the U.S.,

the Thai government
is also looking for alternatives

to its unsuccessful war on drugs.

One sign of this new direction,

is the tolerance
of the country's very first homegrown

marijuana magazine, Highland.

We traveled a few hours outside Bangkok
to Ratchaburi province

and hung out
with the creators of Highland.

Guide Surnak, the founder of the magazine,

talked about how family tragedy

and time spent studying
in the United States

inspired him to start the project.

Tell me about how and why
you started Highland Magazine?

Okay.

So, when I was like a kid,
like, 14,15, right?

I got my first experience
about smoking weed

like, just like the other teenagers.

[Surnak] I think it is normal for people
in Thailand,

but, nobody wanted to talk about it,
just that.

[Sebastian] Yeah.

Everybody does it
but does not mean to do it.

- Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
- Okay.

[Surnak] I think, like, people don't know
so much about weed.

- [Sebastian] Yeah.
- [Surnak] Like, they know it's bad...

[Surnak] It is a drug,

and you're going to be put in jail
if you smoke it. Right?

- That's what people know.
- [Sebastian] Yeah. Yeah.

And, I got the knowledge about marijuana,

when I was studying in San Francisco.

[Surnak] Like, I met people.

I met a community
that chooses marijuana to cure cancer.

And, met people who smoke it.

I went to dispensaries,

- like, I did many things there.
- Yeah.

It's like changed my mind a lot. Mm-hm.

San Francisco will do that.

Yeah.
[both laugh]

[Sebastian]
The guys from Highland Magazine

have a progressive view on marijuana,

influenced by their personal experiences
and living abroad.

Unfortunately,
most Southeast Asian governments

do not share their perspective.
[all laugh]

[indistinct chatter]

[calm music]

[Sebastian]
The countries of Southeast Asia

have some of the strictest drug laws
in the world,

but this varies in terms
of actual enforcement and sentencing.

At the moment,
the strictest countries in the region

are the Philippines and Indonesia.

In the Philippines, a country
with no death penalty,

an extrajudicial drug war led
by President Rodrigo Duterte

has left more than 6,000 suspected pushers
and users dead in the streets.

Indonesia does have the death penalty

and is not afraid to use it
for drug offenders.

At least 18 convicted drug smugglers
have been executed

by firing squad since 2015,

with 30 more planned for 2017.

Possessing 500 grams of marijuana

will get you a life sentence
in the Philippines

and 1 kilo
will get you death in Indonesia.

Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei
are also very strict,

and regularly sentence
convicted smugglers to death.

[Teo Chee Hean] Singaporeans understand

that the death penalty
has been an effective deterrent

and an appropriate punishment
for very serious offenses.

And largely support it.

[Sebastian]
In 2016, Singapore executed a Nigerian man

for trafficking 2.6 kilos of marijuana.

In Malaysia, getting caught
with only 200 grams of marijuana

can get you a mandatory death sentence
as a trafficker.

In Singapore and Brunei,

possessing 500 grams of marijuana
will bring the same result.

Thailand is less strict,

and although capital punishment
for drug smuggling does occur,

approximately 90% of those convicted
receive clemency and reduced sentences.

Hard drug smugglers are rarely executed,

but sentences of 25 to 50 years
are the norm.

The maximum sentence
for marijuana-related charges

is 15 years with heavy fines
and property seizure.

Countries considered lenient
include Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

For all three countries,
opium, heroin, and meth

are serious problems
with serious consequences.

Vietnam executed 30 people
for heroin trafficking in 2014.

But marijuana is a different situation.

All three countries have long histories
of traditional cannabis use,

so the plant is not something
they naturally see as a problem.

Officially, max punishments range
from ten years in Laos,

life in Cambodia, and death in Vietnam.

But in reality,
users rarely see jail time,

and only the largest traffickers
fear serious punishment.

[somber music]

[Sebastian] Despite the precarious
legal situation in Thailand,

the Highland Boys are ready
and willing to challenge the status quo.

As I spent more time with them,

I came to understand how passionate
and committed they are to social change.

My... My family, my mom, my dad,
my grandfather, and my grandmother,

they all died from cancer.

[Surnak] A lot of people
are suffering here in Thailand.

And I fear it.
I have to do something there.

So, I started a Facebook page.

Write down my research,

like, to give information and education
to people.

So I put on the Facebook page, like,
"Hey, guys, I need a team."

And, "Who would want to volunteer?"
There are people coming to join us.

We had a team and we did the seminar,

- [Surnak] the 420 Seminar.
- [Sebastian] Yeah. Yeah.

[Surnak] That was the game changer
in Thailand, I think. Mm-hm.

We talked about the law.
We talked about the decriminalization,

which, like, Thai people
almost never heard about.

[Sebastian] Yeah.

So, it seemed like that event
really got the conversation started?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It goes on the media.

And after the event, like the media

talked more about the medical part,
the good part about weed, you know.

Mm-hm.

[man #1] It's okay!

- [Sebastian] Let's do it again?
- [man #2] Yeah.

[laughter]

[Sebastian] And I'm drowning.

- [Sebastian] Got it?
- [man #2] Yep.

[water rustling]

This is Thailand!

Bitch!

[all laugh]

[calm music]

[Sebastian] The current situation
of marijuana in Thailand

can only be understood if you travel
to its Northeast border with Laos.

One of the most infamous border provinces
is Nakhon Phanom,

an area of fertile farmlands,

known for producing
most of Thailand's weed

during the '60s and '70s.

[relaxing music]

[Sebastian] Today, it is an area
where much of the marijuana grown in Laos,

is smuggled across the Mekong river
into Thailand.

[camera shutter clicks]

According to the State Department,

opium is the major narcotic produced
in Laos

but marijuana is also produced
in commercial quantities.

The fact is, a large percentage
of the marijuana smoked in Thailand

comes from Laos.

It's impossible to know exactly
how much weed

is coming across the border.

But a quick Google search gives an idea
of the scale of the smuggling.

I was looking for someone
who could tell us more

about the history of the Nakhon Phanom.

I had read that the war
in Laos and Vietnam

and the American G.I.'s stationed
in the town

were part of the reason Nakhon Phanom
became the center of weed production,

but I wanted to meet somebody
who had experienced it firsthand.

So, you grew up here in Nakhon Phanom?
Um...

What do you remember...

What do you remember about Laos,
growing up?

I remember when I was young,
when I was ten years old.

I remember at night,
there would be bombing.

Midnight to one in the morning,
there would be bombing.

My father used to say, "Oh, god."

"Tonight, a lot of people are going to die
because of the war."

[Sebastian] And when the G.I.'s were here,
back in the Vietnam War, um,

was there a lot of marijuana here?
Were they smoking a lot of weed?

I do not know at that time
because I was still young.

I was still a little girl.

But I think, they had a lot. Yeah.

My parents, they had a lot of
heroin people or guests coming from Laos,

and all these things.

[puffs]

[laughter]

[narrator #1] What's happening here
is also happening to some extent,

at virtually, every other
American installation in Vietnam.

[Sebastian] Thailand's modern drug policy

can be traced directly to the American war
in Vietnam.

During the war,
American soldiers were exposed

to extremely potent
Southeast Asian opiates

and marijuana for the very first time.

For many soldiers,
drug use became a normal part

of their Vietnam experience.

Do you have a joint now there with you?

- To be honest, I don't.
- You don't.

- But, sure, what's the difference?
- It was...

But it does not bother me.

I'll be around wherever the guy's smoking.
I'll have my beer and he'll have a joint.

It's no big thing.
[chuckles]

- It's no big thing.
- Okay.

[Sebastian]
Well, the U.S. government didn't agree.

By 1971, studies showed
that 50% of American soldiers

had tried opium and heroin.

And about 15% were showing signs
of addiction.

It also estimated that 75% of servicemen
were regularly smoking marijuana.

[Nixon] A number of young Americans
have become addicts as they serve abroad,

whether in Vietnam or Europe
or other places.

[Sebastian] Thousands of these soldiers
visited Thailand for R&R

and brought their appetite
for opiates and marijuana with them.

Some enterprising servicemen
began smuggling the drugs back to the U.S.

This created a marijuana boom
for areas like Nakhon Phanom,

which was producing the most potent

and expensive weed
in the world at that time,

the legendary Thai Stick.

In 1971, Nixon launched
his now infamous War on Drugs.

America's public enemy number one,
in the United States

is drug abuse.

[Nixon] In order to fight and defeat
this enemy,

it is necessary to wage
a new, all-out offensive.

[Sebastian] The 15 provinces
of Northeast Thailand,

became the unofficial frontline
against the drug trade

and the communist insurgencies
of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.

The Thai government joined in,

sending its U.S.-trained troops
into the region

to battle
the Thai Communist Party Guerrillas,

and eradicate the vast marijuana fields
of the villages

that supported the communists.

[narrator #1] Although these U.S. planes
are aimed at the enemy outside Thailand,

both Washington and Bangkok
are also watching

a communist presence inside Thailand,

festering in the 15 provinces
of the Northeast.

This area is the newest target
of communist subversion.

[Sebastian] For its efforts,
Thailand received billions of U.S. dollars

to support the anti-communist campaign,
and build its economy.

The U.S. would eventually lose its wars
against communism in Indochina,

but continued its extremely expensive
and ineffective War on Drugs,

with Thailand following suit.

"Because the problem existed before
we became involved in Vietnam,

it will continue to exist afterwards.

And that is why this offensive deals
with the problem there,

but will then go on to deal
with the problem throughout America."

[Sebastian] Both the U.S. and Thailand
have been unsuccessfully dealing

with the drug problem ever since.

In 1975, Thailand had approximately
50,000 people in prison.

And today, they have more than 300,000.

Seventy percent of them are in prison
on drug convictions.

The U.S. experienced
an even more drastic increase

from 200,000 prisoners in 1975
to 2.2 million today,

the largest prison population
in the world.

In both countries,
the drug problem is a big as ever.

And officials in both
have begun to realize

the 45-year-old War on Drugs
has been a colossal failure.

[narrator #2] The government declared
a war on drugs 20 years ago,

but, it has failed.

[Sebastian] The Thai government
is now seriously looking for ways

to reduce their overcrowded
prison population

by potentially decriminalizing
several different drugs,

including marijuana.

So, one thing we heard about
in Nakhon Phanom

is that there is a really interesting

- market here.
- Yes.

Can you tell us a little bit about that
and its history?

[Khun Duan]
The market, all the Laos people

have been bringing food from Laos,
from the jungle.

Coming to sell in the market.
It is a very busy market.

It is very interesting to look at, okay?

- You have to go.
- [Sebastian] Okay, I will go check it out.

[groovy music]

We're here in Nakhon Phanom,
at the Monday morning market.

This market happens every Monday
and Thursday morning.

And over there in Laos,

[Sebastian] uh, right across the river,

a bunch of people come
to Nakhon Phanom selling meat,

selling vegetables, selling clothes.

Um, and surprisingly,
it is a really exotic market.

We have seen crabs.

We have seen some rhino horns.

We have seen rats.

And when people arrived this morning,

We could see the border patrol
and the police checking them.

And earlier,
we saw some army guys with machine guns

and drug-sniffing dogs,

uh, checking people's products
as they brought them across the border

The security was pretty tight.

I mean, you could see the guys go down

and receive the boats
and look through their bags.

Um, but, at the same time,

I mean, you would understand
how big this border is

and just how much opportunity there is

to bring in stuff from Laos.

[indistinct chatter]

[funky music]

[indistinct chatter]

I'm still smiling.

[laughs]

- What does your voice sound like?
- Go ahead.

[calm music]

[Sebastian] It's easy to see how this area
was producing

the most sought-after weed in the world
back in the '60s and '70s.

Made possible
by the perfect combination of sunlight,

rich soil, and the Mekong River.

But we needed to travel deeper
into the farming villages

and find someone who was actually involved
in the marijuana trade.

We traveled to a village in Phon Sawan
and met a farmer who told us his story.

[relaxing music]

Back in the day, law enforcement
wasn't as strict as today.

[Mr. Boonyong] We did grow a lot of weed.

I grew some myself, to be honest.

The weed from Phon Sawan
is absolutely well-known.

They produce high-quality weed.

It's actually the most famous in Thailand.

It was dirt cheap back then.

It cost 200 to 300 baht per kilo,
depending on the grade of the weed.

They mostly took pictures from the plane.

As soon as they found out,
they got in a car, drove in,

and took the weed
people grew in the fields.

If they could arrest someone,
they would also bring him back with them.

[blissful music]

[Sebastian] The difference between
Thailand and Laos is stark.

Without the benefit of U.S.
financial backing and trade,

the communist nation of Laos
has never fully recovered

from the devastation of the Vietnam war.

And today, most of its 6.4 million people

survive on local
rice farming and agriculture.

This also accounts for 51% of GDP.

It's a very poor, landlocked country,
and the people have few economic options.

Laos exports more goods to Thailand
than any other country.

It's also true that most marijuana
in Thailand is grown in Laos.

It's the huge demand in Thailand
that fuels the production of weed in Laos,

along with a deep cultural history
of marijuana cultivation

and the fact that they never had
to demonize marijuana

as part of their anti-drug policy.

[relaxing music]

I left Laos with a better understanding
of its connection to Thailand.

[blissful music]

[calm music]

[Sebastian] We drove along dirt roads,
through rubber and pineapple plantations.

And we began to think that we had found
what we were looking for.

They didn't know the area
and the location.

[Mr. Nee] When I was a teen, I heard
they grew weed in the south of Phon Sawan,

Ban Kor area.

Most people in Phon Sawan were potheads.

They grew chillis, pineapples,
and rubber trees.

Pineapples, the sweetest kind,
are grown widely in Uthen and Phon Sawan.

[calm music]

[Sebastian] Off camera,
Khun Sawilai confirmed

that he had at one point
been a major middleman

who sold more than a thousand kilos
per month

during Nakhon Phanom's marijuana boom.

Most of it sold to western buyers,

who would then ship it
to Europe and America.

It's weed that made the top sales.

Selling rice didn't really
make much profit back then.

[Mr. Nee] No pineapples.
Nothing else. Just weed.

Each person grew two to three rai of weed.

Those who grew a lot hired helping hands.

Weed got stolen even with a night watch.

[relaxing music]

[Sebastian] It's pretty cool to imagine

what this landscape looked like
50 years ago

when it was covered with acre upon acre
of marijuana fields.

The people I met showed me

how important marijuana was
to the province

and how disruptive
Thailand's U.S.-funded War on Drugs

must have been for the people
and their way of life.

The farmers of Nakhon Phanom
can only look back on a simpler time

when they had the freedom
to grow the plant

that they had always grown.

But for the new generation,
it's more complicated than that.

They can only look to the future

and hope that ganja
will be that abundant again.

[theme music]