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This past weekend,
Chokwan Kitty Chopika walked into a dispensary in a quiet residential neighborhood in Bangkok and picked up 10 grams of a marijuana strain called wedding cake.
Chokhwan, who goes by Kitty, is a cannabis rights activist.
Just last year, she was on the other side of the counter, running her own dispensary.
But she shut it down after she couldn't secure the license required for a new location,
and the business was already struggling.
I was about to go into debt, so I decided, yeah, I think it's probably time for you to walk away.
Kitty isn't the only dispensary owner to close shop lately.
Ever since the Thai government tightened regulations last June,
more than 7,000 are expected to have shut down in 2025.
It's a stark reversal for a sector that was once full of promise.
In 2022, Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis,
sparking dreams of a booming market, and a new era of tourism around marijuana wellness.
Now, nearly four years later, that vision has largely gone up in smoke.
Today, the fate of the Thai cannabis industry looks uncertain.
This weekend, Thailand will hold a general election.