Rush Thailand

[Amatista Sheeley]

Thailandmade headlines all over the world last December when it became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize cannabis for medical use and research purposes, sparking a race to cash in on what could someday become the country's main cash crop.

The government has also made the development of the industrial potential of the drug one of its priorities, saying its study and development "should be sped up for the medical industry to create economic opportunity and income for the people."

A so-called "green rush" has followed and the first batch of medical cannabis oil was delivered and distributed to hospitals early August. Several companies have applied for research permits and patents as they look to gain a foothold in a new and potentially lucrative market.

Interest has not been limited to the private sector. The government has built an industrial-scale medical marijuana facility housing 12,000 plants, the largest in Southeast Asia. These will be used in the production of over one million bottles of cannabis oil by February 2020.

Although only hospitals and research institutions are currently allowed to apply for permits to develop medical cannabis extracts, the crop has multibillion-dollar potential if private companies are permitted to enter the fray.

Bhumjaithai is also pushing a draft bill which would allow households to grow six cannabis plants for personal consumption for medical use. The party stresses that the policy would not allow for recreational use. The bill is expected to be passed next year after the Thai Parliament resumes its ordinary session in November.

"The policy can help the government regarding production and drug accessibility," Kitty Chopaka, founder of Elevated Estate and a leader from the Bangkok-based cannabis advocacy group Highland Network, told DW.

But she warned that "without proper regulations and procedures in place, especially with the current law restricting use to medical and only with permission (prescription), the government will have a hard time keeping things under control in a way that the public would consider acceptable."

Rosana Tositrakul, Thai Holistic Health Foundation's secretary-general and a former Bangkok senator, focused more on the law's benefits, namely increasing people's opportunities and economic independence.

Leading government officials are reluctant to advocate permitting the recreational use of cannabis despite the crop's obvious economic potential. Others outright dismiss the possibility of legalization.

Even Anuthin Charnvirakul, public health minister and Bhumjaithai party leader, has since backpedaled on his party's signature campaign proposal, claiming that the legalization of cannabis for recreational use was never mentioned on the campaign trail.

"I think Thailand will legalize cannabis for recreational use within five to eight years. It is something I believe is inevitable, especially with more countries around the world legalizing recreational cannabis use for adults," said cannabis advocate Chopaka.

While full legalization remains a remote possibility, the prospect of cashing in on medical cannabis tourism is more realistic. Pipat Ratchakitprakan, Thailand's tourism and sports minister, appears optimistic about its economic benefits.

"We would like to provide medical tour packages such as detox, Thai massage and other wellness courses that use marijuana substances," said Pipat on his first day in office back in July, according to the Bangkok Post. A ministry spokesman declined to comment when contacted by DW.

Malaysia now plans to decriminalize low-level possession of illicit drugs. Many in the country are also pushing the government to become the second nation in Southeast Asia to allow the medical use of the crop.

For the time being though, Thailand is blazing its own trail by embracing the opportunities presented by the crop's monetary potential. Cannabis-hype has even led the country to host the World Ganja Festival 2020, which will be held from January 29 to February 2.

Armed with the loco plans for the 2019 Tet season, and the train plan for the 2020 Tet season, I sat and worked out a plan that would allow me to spend time in northern Vietnam pre-Tet and southern Vietnam post-Tet, and spend Tet in Spain doing the PTG Alco-Holic 5 railtour.

I used the very handy Baolau.com website to book all the required train tickets in Vietnam, and was grateful that I got in right at the start of the booking process as some trains were sold out quite early on, and some never went on sale on the Baolau site at all!

Needless to say, I managed a fair bit of sleep, albeit very broken sleep, during the 11h25m we were in the air and the majority of the flight was, for me anyway, in the correct time zone to be asleep.

I did indulge the staff though and alighted where I was told and as TN9 was spot on time I had time for a quick night shot before heading down the platform to my berth. By the time I got there, D13E-719 had already dropped onto the opposite end, and unfortunately my time was limited and the staff ushered me onto the train before I could leg it to the rear and get any further photos; and quite rightly so as we were on the move moments later! My upper berth was again in an empty compartment, despite a few people joining the train at Vinh, and I enjoyed the peace and tranquility to Dong Hoi, while I could!

Bizarrely, at Phu Ly a family of four boarded my otherwise empty coach and found their allocated seats to be in my compartment. So, with every other compartment in the coach empty, where did they choose to sit? Yep, with the only person in the whole coach, filling the compo to the max with their immense amount of luggage as well! I was out in a shot and amid looks of confusion, found myself another compartment towards the front of the coach, which I did keep to myself for the remainder of the journey to Hanoi; mainly because nobody boarded en-route.

The amount of people arriving to travel, compared to two days previous, was noticeable and when I checked Baolau.com to see how well loaded the train was I found that the two single-deck soft seat coaches were full but the front double-deck coach was completely empty upstairs; so, I booked another ticket in coach 7 at a vastly cheaper price than tickets had been up to and including the previous day. The air-con in coach 1 had been bloody freezing on the way out too, so not freezing to death on the way back would be a bonus.

On arrival into Dieu Tri, resident D12E-629 was shunting freight wagons in the adjacent yard and was still doing so when SQN2 departed for Quy Nhon. Having managed to get a window open I was able to spot the red shape of a D13E as SQN2 turned left onto the Quy Nhon branch; and tired of being bowled for photos at Quy Nhon, I walked the length of the train and was poised at the door of the front coach when we arrived into Quy Nhon. Even then, with only two coaches to the loco, I had to rush down the platform and the shunter was already in between by the time I got my camera out! On this occasion though, rather than stable the loco at the side of the stock, this crew put it under a tree near what would now be the rear coach of the set.

Quite content that I was doing he right thing and getting out off Cambodia, I passed the evening away but was still going to see what did the 0700 Sihanoukville the following morning anyway, before heading to the airport.

I stupidly asked for a room with a view of the station and realised my mistake straight away; as not only could I not actually see much of the station but there was a main road right below and with the room having a balcony with an ill-fitting door that was made of wood, and the road noise was horrendous. Other than that, the room was a decent size, clean, had excellent air-con and hot water, along with a fridge, TV and tea/coffee making facilities and complimentary bottled water, which was replenished daily.

The morning photting was pretty much the highlight of the day and in the afternoon, after casually missing a late running DMU at Sam Sen, I was forced to use the metro to get back into Hua Lamphong from Bang Sue; the MRT blue line taking 30 minutes but with the walk at either end, more so at the Bang Sue end, you can add 15 minutes to the whole journey time. The air-con was a welcome respite from the humid day outside though.

The government in Thailand closed at least 19 checkpoints, including the major border crossing at Poipet town, causing thousands of Cambodian migrant workers to rush back to the country over the weekend.

The Thai government closed 19 checkpoints on Monday, only allowing the transport of goods, including smaller pushcarts used by transportation workers ferrying products across the border, reported the Bangkok Post.

The heavily drenched Nong Khai is just centimetres away from crisis as the Mekong River continues to rise and northern run-off keeps pouring in with further rainfall expected to hit Thailand this week.

Overflow from the river Monday flooded parts of Nong Khai municipality, as soldiers rushed to help 40 households by creating sandbag walls. Other low-lying areas also reported similar incidents, although the province's economic centre in Muang district remained safe from the most serious flooding, on Monday at least.

Nong Khai's neighbouring province, Nakhon Phanom, has already borne the brunt as 300 families in Si Songkham district struggled against floods brought by the overflowing Songkham River, a branch of the Mekong.

To add to their concerns, the Meteorological Department warned that rainfall will continue in first half of the week and become stronger nearer Sunday. Almost all the regions in the country will encounter the combined effects of a severe southwest monsoon in the Andaman Sea and the monsoon trough across Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

In the Central Plains, officials continue to control the level of the Chao Phraya River, which is increasing due to massive northern run-off and, at the same time, attempting to make sure water stocks remain full in case of possible drought during the dry season.

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