Highland: Thailand's Marijuana Awakening (2017): Season 1, Episode 3 - Recreational - full transcript

[theme music]

[ethnic music]

[Sebastian] I had heard
that marijuana culture in Laos

was very different than Thailand.

And since most of the weed smoked
in Thailand

is actually being produced in Laos,

I wanted to visit the country
and see if I could learn more.

We took a flight from Bangkok
to Ubon Ratchathani

and a taxi from the airport
to the Thai border with Laos.

We headed for an area in Southern Laos

known for coffee, tea,
and marijuana production.



There's a village famous
for its traditional bong culture

and we wanted to know
if the people also smoked ganja.

So, like Nakhon Phanom
where we were earlier,

which is famous for weed
during the Vietnam War,

this area of Laos
was actually producing a lot of weed

during the Vietnam War, as well.

And this specific town
is actually famous for its bongs.

[Sebastian] And you can actually see
how back during, um, Vietnam,

people were probably smoking
a lot of weed.

But, uh, here we are
in a beautiful Sunday, walking around,

and every house pretty much has one
of these really beautiful bamboo bongs.

They're smoking this kind of weird sugar,
tobacco concoction.

I don't know if it gets you high,

but, uh, they seem to be enjoying it, uh,
among, uh, the farmyard animals.



[Sebastian] And, um, yeah,
they're beautifully made.

And it's just a pretty cool
piece of history here,

uh, about a hundred miles
from the Thai border.

[slow pop music]

[chicks chirping]

[interviewer]
In the past, did the people here

normally smoke this thing?

Did many people smoke this?

Some did. It depends.

[interviewer]
Like, supposing that...

Supposing there are ten households,
how many people would smoke this?

Everyone. Every household.

- [interviewer] Every household.
- [man #1] Hm.

[interviewer] Everyone did? Men and women?

Yes, yes.

They all did.

[slurps]

[slurping]

[child giggling]
[producer] I don't hear any water.

[exhales]

It's definitely not weed.

That is, uh, just tobacco.

Good Sunday tobacco, but, yeah.

Just kind of, uh, a big tobacco bong.

That's not weed.

[Sebastian] We saw a lot of people
smoking tobacco on bamboo bongs.

But to our disappointment,
we didn't come across anyone smoking weed.

Apparently, weed hadn't been
in the village for almost 20 years.

As I mingled with the locals,

I had to wonder if they knew
that this simple water pipe,

a tradition in their culture
for centuries,

had, since the Vietnam era,
become a global billion-dollar industry

and a symbol of stoner culture.

I'm guessing probably not.

[upbeat music]

[Sebastian] In Thailand, it was harder
than we expected to find someone

who would let us film their grow.

After numerous rejections,

we finally met a local with a small
but impressive indoor operation

that he is raising
for personal consumption.

Tucked away on a small backstreet,

we talked to him about what it's like
to grow your own weed in Bangkok.

Johnny asked that we hide his identity
as weed is still illegal in Thailand.

Would you say there's kind of, uh,
a group of people in Bangkok, in Thailand

kinda growing more high quality weed?

Of course, there is a lot.

[Johnny]
And actually, in the last two years,

the growing society
is growing more and more.

Like lately, we have access.

People here have access
to the import weed.

This is actually how the weed should be.

[Sebastian] And why do you think
there is such a negative stigma

attached to marijuana in Thailand?

[Johnny] Ah...

One of the reason is...
some of the brick user,

they mix with, uh, many drugs in that,

and then, go do wild stuff, bad things,
stealing stuff and, uh, hurting people.

[Sebastian]
How do you feel growing in Thailand?

Are you... are you scared?

[Johnny] I think if we stay quiet,
we use for ourselves, we know our rights,

we should be able to grow a plant
for personal consuming.

[upbeat music]

[Sebastian] Johnny is the perfect example
of the new breed

of Thailand's ganja connoisseurs
who import exotic strains,

use the highest quality
of fertilizers and nutrients,

build high-tech grow systems,

and dedicate their time
to produce the best pot possible.

[upbeat music]

[upbeat music continues]

[Sebastian] So, you started bakin' goods
to... to get a girlfriend,

but eventually,
after you got a girlfriend,

you realized you could actually make it
into a business, right?

[Timmy] Yeah.

So, can you tell me a little bit
about that?

Well, it's all because
I got my hands on kief.

Lots and lots of kief.

[laughs]

[Sebastian] I'm sorry, dude.

[laughing continues]

He's just looking at...

He's just looking at me.

[laughing continues]

- Are you baked right now?
- [Timmy] Yeah.

You look so baked, dude. I'm just like...

He's looking at me like, "What the fuck
is this guy's talking about?"

I'm just like, "I'm sorry, dude, like..."

[reggae music]

[reggae music continues]

[Sebastian] Another member
of this rising vanguard is Timmy.

This super laid-back kid,
with access to his grandma's kitchen

and a love for cooking,

stumbled into an opportunity
to make edibles for his friends.

He's a perfect example
of how rising demand

is creating new business opportunities
for marijuana-related products.

- You bake weed cookies.
- [Timmy] Uh-hm.

And how long have you been doing it?

How long?
Well, I started around four years ago,

but a friend asked me to.

You know, I do it for a favor.

[Timmy] And one day

I start being supplied with kief,
as you see.

So, I thought, "Why not sell it?"

I think I make hella great brownies also.

Taste so fucking good.

Hypothetically, if...

somebody decided to maybe tell on you
or try and get you in trouble,

and a police officer ended up busting you,

do you know what the penalty would be?

Like, what... what would happen to you?

I would say like, five or seven years.

But for making edibles,
you don't have what they call evidence.

If they... if they didn't come in
and bust my place

or where I stash my stuff.

Even though if it's tested...
tested positive from, you know, THC,

it's just happy brownies, man.

[Sebastian]
Who do you think are the people

who most oppose weed in Thailand?

[Timmy] I think it's a generational thing.

Well, how we hate weed from the start,

it started from how America came
into our country in the '70s.

And, uh, they took weed from us
and then they plant weed for us

for some reason.

So, it's America's fault.

[Timmy scoffs]
You could say that.

[laughs]

[Sebastian] It's not hard to imagine
that if the law changes,

Timmy will be way ahead of the curve

and might one day end up owning
his own cafe,

serving up delicious baked goods
dosed with the highest quality weed.

[reggae music]

[boat motor whirrs]

[boat motor whirring continues]

There's a bit of a debate
going on in Thailand right now

about which would be better,

decriminalization or legalization
of recreational marijuana.

I'm on a boat in the Mekong River,
not far from an island

where weed is actually
unofficially decriminalized.

[Sebastian] People are selling it.

People are smoking it.

Officials don't really seem to care.

If things keep going this direction,

we could probably see
some decriminalized zones like this.

Thailand in the future.

[boat motor whirrs]

[Sebastian] We arrived
at one of the few places in Asia

where marijuana and mushrooms
are openly enjoyed

with no fear of the law.

A beautiful rice farming island
in the middle of the Mekong River.

On our first night, we met a guy

who would tell us everything
we needed to know

about the unique marijuana culture
of Laos and the island.

[slow pop music]

[slow pop music continues]

- [man #1] And we are...
- [man #2] Ready.

[man #1] Can you light the...
[both laughing]

I have never smoked it on camera.

- Yeah, you should.
- [man #1] Why not? I think so, man.

- I think I just should?
- [man #2] Buddy's gonna edit it out.

Absolutely.

So, you talk about
traditional Laos values.

Yeah.

Um, and there's huge pot culture
on this island.

Is that a part
of traditional Laos culture?

Oh, my god. Absolutely.

Now, uh, in Laos,
there's 14 different, uh, provinces,

ah, with their own dialect,
their own kind of cultures and beliefs.

But we, um, from my understanding,
and I spend a lot of time with the family,

uh, this been a crop that been grown
for years and years.

[Stephan] Ah.

For them, it's a crop, as well as rice,
it grows good.

Um, At the end of a hard day's work,

uh, one of the traditional meals
that the locals would eat

would be like a chicken
and bamboo weed soup.

[Stephan] Now, they would have put
copious amounts in

where you get completely stoned and high.

That just enough to kinda mellow you out.

But after a hard day's work,
farming this is very physical work,

so you kinda sleep...

- Kinda ease out... Yeah, yeah.
- Get the muscles.

Relax your body, chill out,
and they're up at the crack of dawn.

[slow pop music]

[Sebastian] The inhabitants of this island
are a resourceful and independent people

who the authorities generally leave
to their own devices.

The de facto decriminalization
of marijuana on the island

suits them just fine.

One person we talked to

believed that legalization
would only mean that the government

and big corporate interests

would take marijuana out of the hands
of the common man

and sell it back to them.

[slow pop music]

[Sebastian] Seeing marijuana use
as a public health issue

could help pave the way
to decriminalization.

There are several NGOs working
to make this happen in Thailand.

One of them is the Ozone Foundation.

We talked to their secretary, Noi Ngamme,
about this issue.

In Thailand, you have like, uh...

The capacity of a Thai prison is like a...

- The prisoners is overcrowd.
- Yeah.

[Noi] And... more than 70% of them, like,
just drug user

or the people with small possession
in this year.

And if they are seeing the policy
like this,

for sure, the number of the prisoners
in the prison will reduce.

And I heard from, uh...

The people
from the Ministry of Public Health said,

the Ministry of Public Health accept
like the...

We should propose to the government
that the drug users

and document them
that they are not criminals.

So, need to stop punishment them

and try to bring them back
and take care of like the health issue.

[Sebastian] The fluid legal situation
with marijuana law in Thailand

makes it a complex issue.

But as it stands,

the law governing cannabis
is pretty straightforward.

If you get piss tested
and there is marijuana in your blood,

it's consumption,

and you could get up to a year in jail
and a 600 dollar fine.

Get caught with marijuana in hand,
that's possession,

which can land you in prison
for up to five years

and set you back 3,000 dollars.

if you are producing, importing, exporting
or otherwise, selling marijuana,

it starts to get serious.

Up to ten kilos
will get you two to ten years

and a 6,000 dollar fine.

More than ten kilos,

the maximum sentence goes up to 15 years
with a fine of up to 40,000 dollars.

So long story short,

with all the possible talk
of declassification and legalization,

getting caught with marijuana
is still a serious matter in Thailand.

[slow pop music]

[Sebastian]
Another sign of the rising demand

for marijuana products is Bong Party,

one of the first and biggest bong shops
in Bangkok.

In addition
to a growing local customer base,

they sell just as many bongs

to neighboring countries
in Southeast Asia.

So, after having a bong shop
open for six years,

where do you feel, um...

the marijuana culture
in Thailand is going?

Is it growing? Is it getting smaller?
Is it staying the same?

[owner #1] It is growing.

But people still are in fear,
since it is illegal.

Some have started accepting it.

However, lately, honestly speaking,
there's fear in the air

because more checkpoints can be found

and urine tests are done
to check your urine.

So people have to use it discreetly.

However, there are people on Facebook
who dare to admit that they are users.

There were initially
a couple of marijuana webpages.

Now we have a hundred
of these pages in Thailand.

About a hundred.

After being oppressed by the prohibition,

- we now talk to parents,
- Yes, we're now brave enough.

and friends telling them it's okay.

So, we're at a little park
right near Jatujak Market.

We got a band called the Srirajah Rockers
playing behind us.

They're a Thai reggae band.

Believe it or not, there is actually a ton
of Thai reggae bands,

and there's a big weed culture

within the reggae band culture
in Thailand.

[reggae music playing]

♪ This is your time ♪

♪ Your time, your time, your time ♪

♪ This is your time ♪

[reggae music continues]

♪ This is your time ♪

So, how did you guys start the band

and decide to spread this message
about weed?

We decided to spread this message
about the weed, because...

Weed is not really a harmful plant.

We are not spreading lies.

We are trying to spread the truth
about what weed really is.

We talk about its positive effects.

We try not to focus on being high
or saying nonsensical things.

We also try to avoid mentioning
the word "weed" in the song.

We try to put two meanings into a word.

Something like that.

♪ But people's mind won't get it ♪

♪ If you feel so cold ♪

♪ But people's mind won't get it ♪

♪ If you feel so cold
please let me warm you up ♪

♪ Let me make you feel hot ♪

So, what would you say
to people in Thailand

who still think
that marijuana should just stay illegal?

The problem is lack of knowledge
and understanding,

as well as the lack of research
regarding this topic.

Ever since we were little kids,
everyone simply regarded weed

as a harmful drug.

♪ Yeah ♪

[drums beating]

[crowd cheering]

[cheering continues]

Boom.

[Sebastian] The Mekong River flows
through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,

Cambodia, and Vietnam,

not only connecting their cultures
and people,

but also their drug trades.

Um.

The majority of, uh, weed

that is smoked in Thailand
is all exported to Laos.

Uh, from Laos.

[Stephan] Again, with Northern Cambodia,
the majority is coming into Laos.

There is, uh, some new strings popping up
in the south of Cambodia,

some Dutch growers
are doing a really good job down there.

But, uh, still, Thailand...

[Sebastian]
It's getting most of its part from Laos.

From Laos, yeah.

[Sebastian] Like, do you know
what the history was like

during the Vietnam War, specifically here?

Was it just chill like...

It was chill, um...

This is before weed became an issue,
you know?

This was a crop.

[Stephan] It wasn't ideal.

People had a couple of pot plants.

And this was just the way of life.

But in Laos law,

there is absolutely nothing in Laos law
that says, "Weed is illegal."

[Stephan] Now, with the European Unions
and all of that

and Laos trying to come back
into like the Western environment,

like a small reinforcement by police,

that kind of, you know,
capitalized on that and make it an issue.

But in actual Laos law, Laos legislation,

like, uh, from, uh, my research
and everyone else I've spoken to,

I haven't seen any piece
of written evidence, by law in Laos,

- that weed is an illegal drug.
- Yeah.

[slow pop music]

[Sebastian] For the first time
since the Vietnam War Era,

Thailand is considering making
significant changes to its drug policy

by declassifying marijuana

and opening the way
to medical applications for the plant.

At the same time, the new generation
is beginning to educate themselves

and make up their own minds
about a miraculous herb

that has been used
as a medicine for centuries.

Decriminalization or legalization
of marijuana in Thailand

would be unprecedented for the region.

And would have a tremendous impact
on the culture and economy.

If it happens,

beyond all the media headlines
and new legislation

will be the faces that we met

who stand on the front lines
no matter what the outcome.

[slow pop music]

So, if marijuana
does become legal in Thailand...

[both laughing]

[laughing continues]

- I think this is should be like...
- Holy shit!

more funny way because he's sick.

He saw that person
that would speak about it.

He just looks so stunned,
and I'm like, "Yeah."

That's my suggestion.

[producer] We got that. That's perfect.

Yeah, it's cool, it's cool.
Just let it roll.

So, what do you, Pon,

- Yeah.
- have to say to the people

who say, "This is crazy.
The law is there for a reason.

Weed is illegal
and it should stay that way.

And get a job."

[Pon] They can call whoever crazy
until they have, you know, succeeded.

Then, they can stop calling you crazy.

But first, maybe I'm crazy.

[Guide] Yeah.

- But tomorrow, maybe not.
- Yes. Yes.