Highland: Thailand's Marijuana Awakening (2017): Season 1, Episode 2 - Medicinal - full transcript
One Thai doctor is on a mission to prove that marijuana can cure cancer. Meanwhile for epilepsy and cancer patients who are already self-medicating, the legalization battle is a matter of survival.
[upbeat music]
[Sebastian] For the past decade,
cancer has been the number one killer
in Thailand.
Yet until Dr. Somyot Kittimunkong
published his book,
Cannabis is Medicine That Kills Cancer,
no Thai doctor publicly endorsed marijuana
as a legitimate treatment.
We went to the hospital
to talk about his book and his beliefs.
[Dr. Somyot] Formally, I think...
[stutters]
there's actually a few doctors
that agree with using cannabis oil.
But nowadays...
- You're saying in Thailand or...
- Yes, that's only in Thailand.
- Yeah.
- That a lot of doctors...
[Dr. Somyot] getting more information
about cannabis oil.
And started to believe that,
okay, it has real value...
- Yeah.
- for the people's health.
I heard about the cannabis oil
about five years ago
after my younger brother died,
who died from thyroid cancer.
[Dr. Somyot] So I started to research
on the cannabis oil.
And how the people talk about it,
about the research
in test tubes or animal modules,
or something like that.
[Sebastian] Yeah, that it....
That it has medical value.
[Dr. Somyot]
I think that a lot of doctors nowadays,
they believe that cannabis oil
is a, it's a real medicine.
It's good for me that I heard
that confirmation.
Well, even in some cases,
they have lung cancer.
[Dr. Somyot] Terminal stage,
like stage IV lung cancer,
that spread to his brain.
After getting the treatment,
just only for a week,
his coughing decreased.
So, now he's getting better.
So that's the proof.
I met the real patient.
[Dr. Somyot]
That after they used, they're better.
So it is the real proof for me.
[Sebastian] At the end of 2016,
the Thai government legalized
industrial hemp farming
within six provinces of Northern Thailand,
in hopes of tapping into the lucrative
global industry.
Up until then, only the Hmong tribe
could legally grow hemp
for use in their religious ceremonies.
Farmers applying for the new permits
must guarantee that their hemp crops
contain less than one percent THC,
or face legal punishment.
[Sebastian] What many people don't know
is that hemp and marijuana
are essentially the same plant.
But while hemp has been engineered
for its incredibly durable fibers and oil,
marijuana, for centuries,
has been cultivated
for its medicinal
and intoxicating properties.
And although hemp CBD
is a valuable nutritional supplement,
it does not produce
effective medical results.
Only the THC in CBD found
in marijuana plants
are believed to be useful for treating
serious medical conditions.
So although this is a step
in the right direction,
a medical marijuana industry
can only happen in Thailand,
when the government allows marijuana
to be grown,
researched, and processed
into proven medicines.
[Sebastian] Until the government comes
to a point where it's willing to accept
that the compounds in cannabis,
not hemp, are what are required
to treat most disorders effectively,
people will continue to suffer needlessly.
Case in point is Ice.
Just one of Thailand's nearly 500,000
epilepsy patients.
And one, who, without cannabis CBD oil,
might not be alive today.
[Kai]
In the beginning, he could still talk.
He could talk like a normal kid,
but suddenly, he stopped talking.
He couldn't talk or make eye contact.
He played by himself, as you can see.
His seizures got worse
every time he had brain wave treatment.
The doctor prescribed him more medicine.
[Kai] Then came the time
when he couldn't eat or swallow anymore.
Nikon recommended us this page,
that might provide us with a treatment,
and it could provide us with some advice,
so we consented.
After noticing it had positive results,
we switched to CBD oil.
Kids no longer need to go to the hospital
nor take anti-inflammatory often.
We had to use a phlegm suction
and inhaler before.
He didn't need it anymore
ever since he started using CBD oil.
[Surnak] Ms. Kai, have you ever asked
the doctor about CBD oil?
[Kai] I asked the doctor
if he has heard of CBD oil
which cured Charlotte's convulsions.
The doctor wouldn't talk to me.
He said, "How did you find out about it?"
I said, "I saw it on YouTube."
And he said, "It has not been
medically confirmed yet."
[Sebastian]
With such information readily available,
it's mind-boggling that a child like this,
who is not responding
to orthodox treatments,
will not even be given a chance
to be treated with a proven
and effective alternative
like Charlotte's Web CBD oil.
Did you go to San Francisco
because you heard
that they were doing research
with medical cannabis?
Was that kind of your driving inspiration
to go there?
- [Surnak] No, no. I just went there.
- [Sebastian] So, you were there?
[Surnak] Yeah, I just went there to study.
[Sebastian] You just studied.
[Surnak]
I didn't know anything, like, about this.
Do you have a personal story, kind of,
with your family in kind of
using medical cannabis
- potentially for healing?
- Yeah, definitely.
It's like my main motivation.
[Surnak] Because, like, my whole family,
my grandfather, my grandmother,
Dad and Mom, they all died of cancer.
You know, and...
I feel like it's the least suffering
for the family and for the patients.
[Surnak] But the picture I see
when I watch in the community,
the cancer patient community
who used medical marijuana, right,
they are, like, different from my family.
[Surnak] They lie down in the bed
and doing nothing.
- [Surnak] Like, suffering from the cancer.
- [Sebastian] Yeah.
[Surnak] Pain...
vomit all the time.
Suffer from chemo.
And the whole family, like...
they're all down.
[Surnak] The community that I met,
they are like, normal people.
They are not, like, really sick.
They can work, they can eat.
[Sebastian]
The community in San Francisco?
- Yes.
- [Sebastian] So, they were...
- They had cancer?
- Yes.
[Sebastian]
But they were still able to kind of...
- live their lives?
- Yes.
- They're not sick, they're...
- They don't feel as much pain. Right?
Yeah, they don't feel the pain,
and they're just like normal people.
[Sebastian] We traveled to meet a man
who has turned away from treatment
at many facilities,
after being diagnosed
with advanced liver cancer.
Modern doctors in a Thai hospital
offered him no alternative,
and could only suggest that he go home
and wait to die.
[cancer patient] Sides of my body
were painful.
- It hurt right here?
- [cancer patient] Yes, that's right.
[cancer patient] I couldn't really move.
Every time I moved,
it hurt. It hurt to breathe.
- [Surnak] Right.
- [cancer patient] Even when I breathe.
- They told me to get a CT scan.
- Right.
[cancer patient] The CT scan result showed
that it really is cancer, two lumps.
[cancer patient]
The bigger one was about ten centimeters.
[Surnak] Ten centimeters.
- In your liver?
- [cancer patient] Yes, in my liver.
- Yes.
- [cancer patient] Right in the liver.
The smaller lump
was about six centimeters.
[cancer patient]
Both were diagnosed and confirmed
that nothing could be done.
It was because both lumps
took up a lot of space in my liver.
That's why they couldn't be removed.
They were too big.
[cancer patient]
Radiation treatment wouldn't work.
Right.
[Surnak] At that time, chemotherapy
and radiation treatment wouldn't work.
[cancer patient] I see.
Operation was also impossible.
[Surnak] No operation?
What happened next?
What did your doctor recommend?
[cancer patient]
He didn't recommend anything.
He just told me to recover at home.
[Surnak] Recover at home?
[Surnak] When did you realize that weed
was helpful for you?
How did you start? How did you do it?
Where did you get it? How did you use it?
[cancer patient] As far as I can remember,
- I brewed it.
- [Surnak] You brewed it.
[cancer patient]
I drank it every morning and evening.
[Surnak] Okay.
[cancer patient]
I would have a few weed flowers per meal.
Just about half size of my little finger.
- [cancer patient] Just like brewing tea.
- [Surnak] Okay.
[cancer patient] We weren't so sure
if weed could really cure me.
The only way to find out is a blood test.
[Surnak] Right.
[cancer patient]
So I took it every month,
and the result improved each time.
[cancer patient] My worst month showed
AP result as high as 1,270.
It kept decreasing by half.
From thousands to hundreds,
and hundreds to tenths.
[Sebastian] Patients like the man we met
and many others like him around the world,
lead us to believe that a great many
of terminal cancer patients
in Thailand could be healed,
or at least be more comfortable,
if treated with medical marijuana.
[Sebastian] Arun Avery is a contributor
to Highland magazine
and writes mostly about
the medical benefits
and applications of marijuana.
He's the medicinal nerd of the group.
[Arun] It's almost a magical plant,
where it has so many properties,
so many good properties for human health,
to actually heal them...
whether it will be physically or mentally.
[Arun] It's not really a bad plant...
that Thai people have been believing
for the past, at least, 40 years.
I mean, it's been in Thai, um...
[Arun]
natural or herbal medicine manuscript.
And people should know more about them.
It's actually a medicine.
And it's not all bad, basically.
It's not a drug where people would take it
and become crazy.
It can heal people, basically.
With all the information
that we have been feeding to the public,
the public have been giving
quite a good, positive feedback.
[Arun] And, um, people
become more open-minded,
want to talk more on the subject.
Even the hardest and the most
mainstream media in Thailand
[Arun]
started picking up all these topics.
That it actually heals, it's actually
medicine that can heal people.
[Sebastian] Another one
of the Highland boys is Alex Blin,
whose research deals mainly
with the commercial
and industrial potential
that could be unlocked
if the current laws are changed.
It is an interesting time.
And there's definitely
a lot of positivity.
[Alex]
As in, the government has been supporting
groups like Highland magazine,
which is educating the masses,
informing the people,
and sharing news
about the medical applications
and the potential industrial consequences
that can come with this reform
of cannabis in Thailand.
Hemp has been endorsed
by the Royal projects for a long time.
In fact, the Queen, during a visit
[Alex] in the Hmong tribespeople
in the north of Thailand,
and the hill tribespeople have encountered
with Hmong people
who utilizes hemp for textile
and even for spiritual rituals.
It's part of their way of life.
They're born with hemp clothes.
[Alex] They're buried with hemp clothes,
and so on.
And she recognized it as a valuable crop,
and it has been...
[Alex]
It has been accepted for the Hmong people
to keep cultivating hemp
in the north of Thailand.
So we're looking at the potential...
The possibilities of hemp industries
in Thailand would be copious.
And, of course, there will be uses,
I imagine, for the fiber,
that can be extracted
and decorticated from the plant.
[upbeat music]
[narrator] And Thailand has become
the most popular destination
for high-quality medical care
at extremely reasonable fees.
[Sebastian]
Thailand is known as one of the world's
top five medical tourism destinations
with some of the most advanced hospitals
on the planet.
Annually, almost three million
foreign travelers come to Thailand
for procedures that can be
as much as 80 percent cheaper
compared to comparable facilities
in the U.S. or Europe.
[narrator] Why is Morgan going
to Thailand for a colonoscopy?
[Morgan] So I'll be able to fly, stay,
have a surgery done,
and come back for less
than it will cost me
- if I went to the hospital in America?
- Yes.
[Sebastian]
Becoming a medical marijuana hub
could be an easy win for Thailand.
Given its already advanced
medical infrastructure
and its perfect climate
for growing high-THC strains,
the lush mountains of northern Thailand
would be a logical center
for such an industry.
The government approved
six northern provinces
to produce hemp on an industrial scale,
so the addition of marijuana
would be easy to implement.
[Sebastian] Marijuana and hemp have been
cultivated in Thailand for centuries.
No people are more associated with
the growing of herb than the Hmong people
who occupy the mountainous intersections
of China, Vietnam,
Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.
The Hmong are famous
for their traditional costumes made
from hemp
and the plant holds a deep
and almost sacred place in their culture.
The Hmong live up on high mountains,
and we don't have any clothing.
[Hmong villager]
We have no money. None.
We grow this to make garments.
It's also an herb
that helps prevent chicken pox.
When someone dies,
we don't cremate the body, we bury it.
[Hmong villager]
We bury the body with hemp.
After around 20 to 30 years,
other clothes would begin to tear apart.
They don't last long,
so we use this instead.
Ain't nothing but a hemp thing, baby.
[Sebastian] Hemp is such an integral part
of life in Northern Thailand
that there are entire villages devoted
to spinning hemp fiber
and weaving beautiful hemp clothing.
And this has been going on,
all while the crop was illegal to grow.
[Sebastian] The new ruling allowing
legal hemp cultivation
in 15 districts of the north,
will undoubtedly create
new economic opportunities
for villages like this one.
[tranquil music]
[chattering in Thai]
[Sebastian]
A video recently surfaced on Facebook,
showing a Thai man in police custody,
after being arrested
for growing marijuana plants at his home.
The police weren't buying his explanation.
[police] Why do you grow weed here?
It's for smoking, for my mom's treatment.
- [police] Yeah? For your mom's treatment?
- My mom has cancer.
- What if your mom had cancer?
- [police] Fuck you.
[laughs]
[police murmurs]
[police] What kind are they?
[Sebastian]
We don't have any way of knowing
whether this guy
is telling the truth or not,
but it's absolutely possible
that he's indeed growing these plants
to help his mother,
who is suffering from cancer.
Until legislation is actually passed,
the police will continue
to arrest citizens,
many of whom are just like this man.
[Sebastian]
It's a long and legally complex road ahead
if such legislation is to become reality.
But conferences like this one
recently held at Thammasat University
which brought together ordinary citizens
and various government agencies
show that real dialogue
is finally happening.
[upbeat music]
What's your hope for legalization
of cannabis in Thailand
in terms of how it can potentially help
the situation of your sister?
My sister could use it, if it was legal.
It's clean and effective. It is cheaper
than ordering something from abroad.
It is beneficial for my sister and those
who can't afford to get treatment abroad.
[man] It solves the problem.
Not many people in Thailand
know about this.
Right? And most families have someone
who is suffering from cancer.
[Sebastian] With representatives
from the Thai Drug Enforcement Agency,
the Thai FDA, and several legal
and medical experts,
it was a chance for ordinary citizens
to make their case
for legal weed directly to policymakers.
Using marijuana for medical treatment,
[Pipop] actually, just started
a few years ago in Thailand.
The timing of its arrival and the method
of using it in medical treatment
are of great help in solving health issues
in our country.
Cancer is one of the fatal diseases.
Many prefer weed as treatment
for fatal diseases like cancer.
When do you see marijuana potentially
being legal in Thailand medicinally
and beyond that, recreationally
in the future?
I think it would not take longer
than two years.
I think, by the end of this year,
the use of marijuana
for medical treatment will be clarified.
I would expect it to happen by the end
or in the middle of this year.
[Pipop]
But for entertainment and other purposes,
I guess it will take at least two years.
[Sebastian] The fact that Mr. Pipop
from the Thailand Narcotics Control Board
would go on record
and give an actual time projection
for legalization was a big deal.
I came away from this conference surprised
at how positive and energetic
all the attendees were.
People's grievances
were legitimately being heard,
a sign that maybe legalization
could actually happen.
As it stands, the country is much closer
to reclassifying marijuana
for medical research
than for recreational use.
From the people who need it most,
that move could not come soon enough.
[serene music]
[Sebastian] For the past decade,
cancer has been the number one killer
in Thailand.
Yet until Dr. Somyot Kittimunkong
published his book,
Cannabis is Medicine That Kills Cancer,
no Thai doctor publicly endorsed marijuana
as a legitimate treatment.
We went to the hospital
to talk about his book and his beliefs.
[Dr. Somyot] Formally, I think...
[stutters]
there's actually a few doctors
that agree with using cannabis oil.
But nowadays...
- You're saying in Thailand or...
- Yes, that's only in Thailand.
- Yeah.
- That a lot of doctors...
[Dr. Somyot] getting more information
about cannabis oil.
And started to believe that,
okay, it has real value...
- Yeah.
- for the people's health.
I heard about the cannabis oil
about five years ago
after my younger brother died,
who died from thyroid cancer.
[Dr. Somyot] So I started to research
on the cannabis oil.
And how the people talk about it,
about the research
in test tubes or animal modules,
or something like that.
[Sebastian] Yeah, that it....
That it has medical value.
[Dr. Somyot]
I think that a lot of doctors nowadays,
they believe that cannabis oil
is a, it's a real medicine.
It's good for me that I heard
that confirmation.
Well, even in some cases,
they have lung cancer.
[Dr. Somyot] Terminal stage,
like stage IV lung cancer,
that spread to his brain.
After getting the treatment,
just only for a week,
his coughing decreased.
So, now he's getting better.
So that's the proof.
I met the real patient.
[Dr. Somyot]
That after they used, they're better.
So it is the real proof for me.
[Sebastian] At the end of 2016,
the Thai government legalized
industrial hemp farming
within six provinces of Northern Thailand,
in hopes of tapping into the lucrative
global industry.
Up until then, only the Hmong tribe
could legally grow hemp
for use in their religious ceremonies.
Farmers applying for the new permits
must guarantee that their hemp crops
contain less than one percent THC,
or face legal punishment.
[Sebastian] What many people don't know
is that hemp and marijuana
are essentially the same plant.
But while hemp has been engineered
for its incredibly durable fibers and oil,
marijuana, for centuries,
has been cultivated
for its medicinal
and intoxicating properties.
And although hemp CBD
is a valuable nutritional supplement,
it does not produce
effective medical results.
Only the THC in CBD found
in marijuana plants
are believed to be useful for treating
serious medical conditions.
So although this is a step
in the right direction,
a medical marijuana industry
can only happen in Thailand,
when the government allows marijuana
to be grown,
researched, and processed
into proven medicines.
[Sebastian] Until the government comes
to a point where it's willing to accept
that the compounds in cannabis,
not hemp, are what are required
to treat most disorders effectively,
people will continue to suffer needlessly.
Case in point is Ice.
Just one of Thailand's nearly 500,000
epilepsy patients.
And one, who, without cannabis CBD oil,
might not be alive today.
[Kai]
In the beginning, he could still talk.
He could talk like a normal kid,
but suddenly, he stopped talking.
He couldn't talk or make eye contact.
He played by himself, as you can see.
His seizures got worse
every time he had brain wave treatment.
The doctor prescribed him more medicine.
[Kai] Then came the time
when he couldn't eat or swallow anymore.
Nikon recommended us this page,
that might provide us with a treatment,
and it could provide us with some advice,
so we consented.
After noticing it had positive results,
we switched to CBD oil.
Kids no longer need to go to the hospital
nor take anti-inflammatory often.
We had to use a phlegm suction
and inhaler before.
He didn't need it anymore
ever since he started using CBD oil.
[Surnak] Ms. Kai, have you ever asked
the doctor about CBD oil?
[Kai] I asked the doctor
if he has heard of CBD oil
which cured Charlotte's convulsions.
The doctor wouldn't talk to me.
He said, "How did you find out about it?"
I said, "I saw it on YouTube."
And he said, "It has not been
medically confirmed yet."
[Sebastian]
With such information readily available,
it's mind-boggling that a child like this,
who is not responding
to orthodox treatments,
will not even be given a chance
to be treated with a proven
and effective alternative
like Charlotte's Web CBD oil.
Did you go to San Francisco
because you heard
that they were doing research
with medical cannabis?
Was that kind of your driving inspiration
to go there?
- [Surnak] No, no. I just went there.
- [Sebastian] So, you were there?
[Surnak] Yeah, I just went there to study.
[Sebastian] You just studied.
[Surnak]
I didn't know anything, like, about this.
Do you have a personal story, kind of,
with your family in kind of
using medical cannabis
- potentially for healing?
- Yeah, definitely.
It's like my main motivation.
[Surnak] Because, like, my whole family,
my grandfather, my grandmother,
Dad and Mom, they all died of cancer.
You know, and...
I feel like it's the least suffering
for the family and for the patients.
[Surnak] But the picture I see
when I watch in the community,
the cancer patient community
who used medical marijuana, right,
they are, like, different from my family.
[Surnak] They lie down in the bed
and doing nothing.
- [Surnak] Like, suffering from the cancer.
- [Sebastian] Yeah.
[Surnak] Pain...
vomit all the time.
Suffer from chemo.
And the whole family, like...
they're all down.
[Surnak] The community that I met,
they are like, normal people.
They are not, like, really sick.
They can work, they can eat.
[Sebastian]
The community in San Francisco?
- Yes.
- [Sebastian] So, they were...
- They had cancer?
- Yes.
[Sebastian]
But they were still able to kind of...
- live their lives?
- Yes.
- They're not sick, they're...
- They don't feel as much pain. Right?
Yeah, they don't feel the pain,
and they're just like normal people.
[Sebastian] We traveled to meet a man
who has turned away from treatment
at many facilities,
after being diagnosed
with advanced liver cancer.
Modern doctors in a Thai hospital
offered him no alternative,
and could only suggest that he go home
and wait to die.
[cancer patient] Sides of my body
were painful.
- It hurt right here?
- [cancer patient] Yes, that's right.
[cancer patient] I couldn't really move.
Every time I moved,
it hurt. It hurt to breathe.
- [Surnak] Right.
- [cancer patient] Even when I breathe.
- They told me to get a CT scan.
- Right.
[cancer patient] The CT scan result showed
that it really is cancer, two lumps.
[cancer patient]
The bigger one was about ten centimeters.
[Surnak] Ten centimeters.
- In your liver?
- [cancer patient] Yes, in my liver.
- Yes.
- [cancer patient] Right in the liver.
The smaller lump
was about six centimeters.
[cancer patient]
Both were diagnosed and confirmed
that nothing could be done.
It was because both lumps
took up a lot of space in my liver.
That's why they couldn't be removed.
They were too big.
[cancer patient]
Radiation treatment wouldn't work.
Right.
[Surnak] At that time, chemotherapy
and radiation treatment wouldn't work.
[cancer patient] I see.
Operation was also impossible.
[Surnak] No operation?
What happened next?
What did your doctor recommend?
[cancer patient]
He didn't recommend anything.
He just told me to recover at home.
[Surnak] Recover at home?
[Surnak] When did you realize that weed
was helpful for you?
How did you start? How did you do it?
Where did you get it? How did you use it?
[cancer patient] As far as I can remember,
- I brewed it.
- [Surnak] You brewed it.
[cancer patient]
I drank it every morning and evening.
[Surnak] Okay.
[cancer patient]
I would have a few weed flowers per meal.
Just about half size of my little finger.
- [cancer patient] Just like brewing tea.
- [Surnak] Okay.
[cancer patient] We weren't so sure
if weed could really cure me.
The only way to find out is a blood test.
[Surnak] Right.
[cancer patient]
So I took it every month,
and the result improved each time.
[cancer patient] My worst month showed
AP result as high as 1,270.
It kept decreasing by half.
From thousands to hundreds,
and hundreds to tenths.
[Sebastian] Patients like the man we met
and many others like him around the world,
lead us to believe that a great many
of terminal cancer patients
in Thailand could be healed,
or at least be more comfortable,
if treated with medical marijuana.
[Sebastian] Arun Avery is a contributor
to Highland magazine
and writes mostly about
the medical benefits
and applications of marijuana.
He's the medicinal nerd of the group.
[Arun] It's almost a magical plant,
where it has so many properties,
so many good properties for human health,
to actually heal them...
whether it will be physically or mentally.
[Arun] It's not really a bad plant...
that Thai people have been believing
for the past, at least, 40 years.
I mean, it's been in Thai, um...
[Arun]
natural or herbal medicine manuscript.
And people should know more about them.
It's actually a medicine.
And it's not all bad, basically.
It's not a drug where people would take it
and become crazy.
It can heal people, basically.
With all the information
that we have been feeding to the public,
the public have been giving
quite a good, positive feedback.
[Arun] And, um, people
become more open-minded,
want to talk more on the subject.
Even the hardest and the most
mainstream media in Thailand
[Arun]
started picking up all these topics.
That it actually heals, it's actually
medicine that can heal people.
[Sebastian] Another one
of the Highland boys is Alex Blin,
whose research deals mainly
with the commercial
and industrial potential
that could be unlocked
if the current laws are changed.
It is an interesting time.
And there's definitely
a lot of positivity.
[Alex]
As in, the government has been supporting
groups like Highland magazine,
which is educating the masses,
informing the people,
and sharing news
about the medical applications
and the potential industrial consequences
that can come with this reform
of cannabis in Thailand.
Hemp has been endorsed
by the Royal projects for a long time.
In fact, the Queen, during a visit
[Alex] in the Hmong tribespeople
in the north of Thailand,
and the hill tribespeople have encountered
with Hmong people
who utilizes hemp for textile
and even for spiritual rituals.
It's part of their way of life.
They're born with hemp clothes.
[Alex] They're buried with hemp clothes,
and so on.
And she recognized it as a valuable crop,
and it has been...
[Alex]
It has been accepted for the Hmong people
to keep cultivating hemp
in the north of Thailand.
So we're looking at the potential...
The possibilities of hemp industries
in Thailand would be copious.
And, of course, there will be uses,
I imagine, for the fiber,
that can be extracted
and decorticated from the plant.
[upbeat music]
[narrator] And Thailand has become
the most popular destination
for high-quality medical care
at extremely reasonable fees.
[Sebastian]
Thailand is known as one of the world's
top five medical tourism destinations
with some of the most advanced hospitals
on the planet.
Annually, almost three million
foreign travelers come to Thailand
for procedures that can be
as much as 80 percent cheaper
compared to comparable facilities
in the U.S. or Europe.
[narrator] Why is Morgan going
to Thailand for a colonoscopy?
[Morgan] So I'll be able to fly, stay,
have a surgery done,
and come back for less
than it will cost me
- if I went to the hospital in America?
- Yes.
[Sebastian]
Becoming a medical marijuana hub
could be an easy win for Thailand.
Given its already advanced
medical infrastructure
and its perfect climate
for growing high-THC strains,
the lush mountains of northern Thailand
would be a logical center
for such an industry.
The government approved
six northern provinces
to produce hemp on an industrial scale,
so the addition of marijuana
would be easy to implement.
[Sebastian] Marijuana and hemp have been
cultivated in Thailand for centuries.
No people are more associated with
the growing of herb than the Hmong people
who occupy the mountainous intersections
of China, Vietnam,
Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.
The Hmong are famous
for their traditional costumes made
from hemp
and the plant holds a deep
and almost sacred place in their culture.
The Hmong live up on high mountains,
and we don't have any clothing.
[Hmong villager]
We have no money. None.
We grow this to make garments.
It's also an herb
that helps prevent chicken pox.
When someone dies,
we don't cremate the body, we bury it.
[Hmong villager]
We bury the body with hemp.
After around 20 to 30 years,
other clothes would begin to tear apart.
They don't last long,
so we use this instead.
Ain't nothing but a hemp thing, baby.
[Sebastian] Hemp is such an integral part
of life in Northern Thailand
that there are entire villages devoted
to spinning hemp fiber
and weaving beautiful hemp clothing.
And this has been going on,
all while the crop was illegal to grow.
[Sebastian] The new ruling allowing
legal hemp cultivation
in 15 districts of the north,
will undoubtedly create
new economic opportunities
for villages like this one.
[tranquil music]
[chattering in Thai]
[Sebastian]
A video recently surfaced on Facebook,
showing a Thai man in police custody,
after being arrested
for growing marijuana plants at his home.
The police weren't buying his explanation.
[police] Why do you grow weed here?
It's for smoking, for my mom's treatment.
- [police] Yeah? For your mom's treatment?
- My mom has cancer.
- What if your mom had cancer?
- [police] Fuck you.
[laughs]
[police murmurs]
[police] What kind are they?
[Sebastian]
We don't have any way of knowing
whether this guy
is telling the truth or not,
but it's absolutely possible
that he's indeed growing these plants
to help his mother,
who is suffering from cancer.
Until legislation is actually passed,
the police will continue
to arrest citizens,
many of whom are just like this man.
[Sebastian]
It's a long and legally complex road ahead
if such legislation is to become reality.
But conferences like this one
recently held at Thammasat University
which brought together ordinary citizens
and various government agencies
show that real dialogue
is finally happening.
[upbeat music]
What's your hope for legalization
of cannabis in Thailand
in terms of how it can potentially help
the situation of your sister?
My sister could use it, if it was legal.
It's clean and effective. It is cheaper
than ordering something from abroad.
It is beneficial for my sister and those
who can't afford to get treatment abroad.
[man] It solves the problem.
Not many people in Thailand
know about this.
Right? And most families have someone
who is suffering from cancer.
[Sebastian] With representatives
from the Thai Drug Enforcement Agency,
the Thai FDA, and several legal
and medical experts,
it was a chance for ordinary citizens
to make their case
for legal weed directly to policymakers.
Using marijuana for medical treatment,
[Pipop] actually, just started
a few years ago in Thailand.
The timing of its arrival and the method
of using it in medical treatment
are of great help in solving health issues
in our country.
Cancer is one of the fatal diseases.
Many prefer weed as treatment
for fatal diseases like cancer.
When do you see marijuana potentially
being legal in Thailand medicinally
and beyond that, recreationally
in the future?
I think it would not take longer
than two years.
I think, by the end of this year,
the use of marijuana
for medical treatment will be clarified.
I would expect it to happen by the end
or in the middle of this year.
[Pipop]
But for entertainment and other purposes,
I guess it will take at least two years.
[Sebastian] The fact that Mr. Pipop
from the Thailand Narcotics Control Board
would go on record
and give an actual time projection
for legalization was a big deal.
I came away from this conference surprised
at how positive and energetic
all the attendees were.
People's grievances
were legitimately being heard,
a sign that maybe legalization
could actually happen.
As it stands, the country is much closer
to reclassifying marijuana
for medical research
than for recreational use.
From the people who need it most,
that move could not come soon enough.
[serene music]