Thailand’s move to turn cannabis into a cash crop got underway in earnest on March 5, with the “360-degree Cannabis & Hemp for the People” expo in Buriram province.
The three-day expo at the Buriram International Circuit was launched by health minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
It aimed to provide a better understanding of how cannabis and hemp can bring huge medical and economic benefits for both Thai producers and consumers.
Visitors and entrepreneurs attended seminars, exhibitions and free workshops and also sampled cannabis products. The focus was on ways of creating added value from cannabis and also hemp. Certain parts of the cannabis plant were removed from Thailand’s narcotics list in December, opening the way for a medical cannabis business worth an estimated eight billion baht ($262 million) by 2025. Meanwhile, stocks in large Thai food manufacturers have risen on news that oil from the plant can be used in their products.
The Buriram expo was organised as part of the ministry’s efforts to promote the budding cannabis- and hemp-related industry as a new economic engine for Thailand.
Buriram shares an 18.5km border with Banteay Meanchey province’s northernmost Banteay Chhmar commune and a 29.4km border with Oddar Meanchey province’s westernmost Ampil commune in Cambodia’s northwest.
THE NATION (THAILAND)/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
