30 minute mini-doc on bangkok’s cannabis scene

BANGKOK IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER CITY IN THE WORLD. THAILANDS CAPITAL AND MOST POPULATED CITY IS A TRUE MELTING POT. A POT THAT MIXES ALL OF THE ASIAN CULTURES AND POURS OUT A DISH THAT IS ALWAYS SERVED WITH A THAI SMILE. A POT THAT WARMS YOUR BODY LIKE THE DOWNTOWN AIR OR THE SPICE IN THE STREET MARKET PAD KA PAO. A CITY KNOWN FOR ITS OPEN MINDED AND VIBRANT LIFESTYLE, WHERE PEOPLE COME FROM ALL OVER TO EXPERIENCE THE FOOD, TEMPLES, MARKETS AND TAKE A STAB AT A HANG OVER 2 LIKE NIGHT.

HOPING TO EXPERIENCE ALL SAID, WE BOOKED OUR TRIP TO BANGKOK HOPING TO CAPTURE A WHOLE NEW SIDE OF THE CITY. ON JUNE 9TH THAILAND LEGALIZED CANNABIS, HAVING SEEN THE EVOLUTION OF CALIFORNIA CANNABIS WE WERE EAGER TO CHECK OUT THE EARLY UNREGULATED SCENE. OUR TEAM INCLUDED TOP CANNABIS JOURNALISTS JON CAPPETTA AND JIMI DIVINE. RON BRANDON FROM KINGSTON ROYAL, JUDAH MENDEZ FROM BANGKOKURBANGREEN, HIGH RISE DOCUMENTING AND OUR TOUR GUIDE, OWNER OF PHANDEE DISPENSARY, OLIVER CHU. WITH ZERO EXPECTATIONS WE HOPPED OFF THE PLANE AND SURRENDERED OUR HEARTS AND LUNGS TO A FOREIGN CITY, HOPING TO TELL ITS STORY OF PRE REGULATED CANNABIS LEGALATION. NOT KNOWING HOW IT WOULD UNFOLD, THE STORY BEGAN TELLING ITSELF.

FOR 7 DAYS OUR TEAM OF TENURED TERPOLOGISTS WERE ON THE HUNT FOR THE THAI GROWN HEAT. WE’VE MET WITH OPERATORS OF ALL LEVELS, FROM EARLY 20 YEAR OLD ZAZA BOYS PUSHING KUSH OUT OF THEIR TRUCK, TO THE GREEN HEAD DISPENSARY WITH OVER 30 FRANCHISED DISPENSARIES AND EXPERIENCE GROWING FOR THE GOVERNMENT. ACROSS THE WHOLE COMMUNITY THERE WERE SIMILAR MESSAGES. CANNABIS IS NOW LEGAL, IT IS UNREGULATED BUT ALL OF THE OPERATORS ARE EXPECTING NEW LAWS TO ROLL OUT SOON AND OFTEN. CONCENTRATES ARE STILL ILLEGAL AND TO OUR SURPRISE WE SAW LOTS OF IMPORTED FLOWER FROM CALIFORNIA. SOMETHING WE ALSO NOTICED WAS THE LARGE PRESENCE OF THAI GROWN CALIFORNIA GENETICS ON THE SHELVES. ALL OF THE EXOTIC STRAINS WE ARE USED TO SEEING ON THE WEST COAST WERE EVERYWHERE. RUNTZ, ZKITTLEZ, RS11, WEDDING CAKE, ALL WAS ACCOUNTED FOR. OWNERS AND BUDTENDERS ALL AGREED THAT THE COMMUNITY, NEW TO OPEN SMOKING, PREFER CONSUMING SATIVAS AND LOWER THC PERCENTAGE STRAINS AS THEIR TOLERANCE AND TASTE FOR THE HEAVIER STRAINS HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED YET. WE LEARNED FROM CARLO NANNI, OWNER OF TROPICANNA DISPENSARY, THAT THAILAND IS KNOWN FOR THEIR LEGACY SATIVA STRAINS AND THE LOCALS ARE STARTING TO LOVE AND EMBRACE THAT LEGACY.

WHEN IT COMES TO LEGACY CANNABIS, THAI STICK HAS TO BE IN THE CONVERSATION FOR NOT ONLY THAILAND BUT INTERNATIONAL HISTORY. WE HAD A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO MEET THE LAST REMAINING MEMBER OF THE ORIGINAL THAI STICK CREW. A GROUP THAT HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR GROWING THAI STICK THAT WAS SMOKE ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR OVER 50 YEARS. AS LA WEEKLY JOURNALIST JIMI DEVINE TOLD THE LEGEND, “WE DIDN’T COME TO THAILAND TO SMOKE GENETICS FROM WHERE WE ARE FROM”, AS WE UNWRAPPED A TRADITIONAL THAI STICK. WE BURNED THRU A PACK OF BROTHERS BROADLEAVES WHILE CHOPPING IT UP WITH LEK. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME HE HAD EVER BEEN RECOGNIZED FOR HIS WORK AND TEARS ROLLED DOWN HIS CHEEKS AS HE WENT BLUNT FOR BLUNT WITH US.

OUR TRIP TO THAILAND WAS TIME CAPSULE OF PRE REGULATED CANNABIS, MONTHS AFTER LEGALIZATION. A STORY BROKEN DOWN, PACKED WITH NUGGETS OF INSIGHT AND WRAPPED IN A LEAF THAT WE HOPE BURNED TO YOU’RE LIKING. FOR THIS IS ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE STORY, THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING AS REGULATIONS WILL COME AND CONTINUE TO SHAPE THE MARKET. THE PASSION OF CANNABIS CONSUMERS AND RELENTLESSNESS OF OPERATORS PUSHING THE ENVELOPE IS CONSTANT PROOF THE PLANT IS BENEFICIAL AND CAN BE PRESENTED IN A PROFESSIONAL LIGHT. AFTER EXPERIENCING THAILANDS VIBRANT CULTURE IT’S NO WONDER A COUNTRY LIKE THIS WOULD WANT TO LEGALIZE CANNABIS. THE WEATHER, THE FOOD, THE TEMPLES AND THE THAI CULTURE MIX PERFECTLY LIKE A BOWL OF FINELY GROUND FLOWER READY TO BE INHALED, SENDING YOU OFF ON THE HIGHEST OF HIGHS. A HIGH HIGHER THAN THE 60 STORY BUILDINGS AND PUFFY CLOUDS SHADING YOU FROM THE BANGKOK SUN. FROM THE ROOFTOPS TO THE STREETS, I THINK WE FOUND THE HEAT IN THAILAND.