The new minister of tourism and sports plans to promote medical cannabis tourism to attract foreign visitors
On his first day as Minister, Pipat Ratchakitprakan, one of the main members of the Bhumjaithai Party, said he wants to include marijuana to encourage cannabis tourism in traditional Thai medicine and massage.
Pipat Ratchakitprakan has had the idea of offering packages of medical cannabis tours, such as detoxification, Thai massage and other wellness courses that use marijuana as a medicinal treatment. With these measures the Minister wants to attract tourists from Europe, Canada and the United States who already have a notion of the therapeutic effects of marijuana.
During the election campaign, the Bhumjaithai party promised the legalization of marijuana cultivation for medicinal purposes, as well as the legalization of applications and private homes to house tourists. At present, these services operate in Thailand through Grab and Airbnb.
The proposals of the party were presented to the prime minister and it is expected that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports will work with the Ministry of Transportation to legalize travel services and shared accommodation.
To find solutions to this type of problems, the Ministry of Tourism must work with the police and the Ministry of Transport to end the scams for the benefit of tourists.
The governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Yuthasak Supasorn, has said that the agency is prepared to promote medical marijuana tourism and thus get a quality tourism because this sector tends to spend more money than the conventional tourism sector.
With the recent decree by the King of Thailand that legalizes medical marijuana, cannabis advocates believe that marijuana is becoming a new type of cash crop for export. Undoubtedly, the legalization and production of medicinal cannabis will attract many more tourists and will be an important economic incentive for the country’s economy.
The commitment of the Bhumjaithai party is the total legalization of marijuana, without making legal differences between medicinal and recreational. Anutin Charnvirakul, the leader of the party, made a statement that enthused all cannabis lovers and activists. Indeed, the leader said that marijuana is not a drug that should be illegal. Unlike alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana has many beneficial properties for health such as cancer treatment, Alzheimer’s, insomnia and many more.
From the beginning the Bhumjaithai party made the total legalization of cannabis an essential premise of the campaign. He even made electoral propaganda posters that incorporated marijuana leaves into the design and that were placed all over Bangkok.
Anutin also warned that his party, the Bhumjaithai, will not make any coalition with another political party that is not in favor of the total legalization of cannabis.
