Barkar Nash (Page 1,072)

The days of easily buying marijuana on the streets of Bangkok or Phuket may soon be over.

Four years after the Bhumjaithai party won almost four million votes on a vow to decriminalise cannabis — then carrying it out as the third-biggest bloc in a military-backed government — the tide has turned: most of the parties contesting Sunday’s national election are calling for the measure to be repealed and restrict the use of cannabis to medical purposes. 

“I don’t want my children to grow up in a country where drugs are easy to find and cannabis is liberalised,” said Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a front-runner to be prime minister for the opposition Pheu Thai party, at a recent rally. “We need to suppress drugs.”

Since decriminalisation took effect about a year ago, cannabis has become a hot-button issue dividing political parties as well as the nation’s 52.3 million voters. Those opposed to the policy often cite growing concerns over the negative societal impact of the drug. 

But there has been frustration as well at the legal vacuum that emerged when the plant was decriminalised, effectively unleashing a new industry before lawmakers could pass a bill to regulate it. Months later, legislation to restrict broader use of the drug got bogged down in parliament as some lawmakers said it didn’t go far enough to rein in recreational use. Not long afterwards, the lower house was dissolved to make way for the upcoming election. 

With little regulation, the cannabis industry took off. From more than a million farmers growing the plant to the estimated 4,500 dispensaries that distribute it in every province of the Southeast Asian nation, the cannabis industry was expected to be worth $1 billion by 2025, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

Now everyone involved in that supply chain is waiting to see how the weekend vote turns out. 

Among them is 60-year-old Olarn Youkanchanaset, who says he poured more than one million baht into establishing two greenhouses and an indoor growing facility in the backyard of his house in the northeastern province of Buri Ram, the “weed capital” of Thailand and a stronghold of the Bhumjaithai party.  

Olarn Youkanchanaset (Bloomberg photo)

“It’s like I’m left adrift in the ocean,” Mr Olarn said in an interview, surrounded by rows of grow lights blasting down on dozens of blossoming plants. Inside his house, cannabis buds were hung out to dry in a spare bedroom that he had converted into a drying and inventory room. “Any party that can push for cannabis regulation, I will support.” 

Mr Olarn’s sentiment is shared by many growers, especially in Buri Ram, where posters bearing the face of Bhumjaithai’s leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, line the streets, promising an array of policies to lift people’s livelihoods if he’s elected to power.

And while surveys show other parties with a bigger lead, Mr Anutin knows that the election could cast him into a king-making role for the next prime minister again, as it did in 2019 when he threw his support behind current Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the former junta chief. In an interview, Mr Anutin said support for the cannabis regulation bill that foundered in the last parliament is critical for winning the Bhumjaithai party’s backing. 

“Bhumjaithai is the only party that will ensure the cannabis policy continues onward with a law to support it,” he said in an interview. 

But among those threatening to unravel the policy altogether is Pheu Thai, the party projected in all pre-election polls to sweep the most seats in the new 500-member House of Representatives. 

Re-listing cannabis as a narcotic, though maintaining its medical use, will guard against recreational use that’s corrupting Thai youths, Pheu Thai said. Even the progressive Move Forward Party that has advocated for liberalisation in most other areas is seeking to do the same, saying it’s necessary to go back to square one before gradually allowing wider cannabis use again. 

Away from the politicking and debates in Bangkok, farmers fear losing a significant source of income so soon after getting it. For years, 14 million farmers — who make up the country’s single-largest group of voters — faced volatile export prices of key agricultural commodities from rice to rubber, as well as natural disasters including drought and floods. In just a year, they’ve come to see cannabis as a more resilient lifeline that contributes to higher income and a better livelihood. 

In one rai, or 0.4 acres, farmers can earn about 500,000 baht for a harvest of cannabis buds, compared to about 8,000 baht for rice grown using the same space, according to Siwasan Khobjaiklang, a 41-year-old leader of a network called Sanom that comprises seven farms owned by Buri Ram’s young farmers. 

Siwasan Khobjaiklang (Bloomberg photo)

Mr Siwasan says his dream is for Thailand to have a cannabis law regulating the production and sales of marijuana, allowing farmers to link up with domestic businesses more conveniently and even export the products. 

For the group, what’s at stakes here can make their election choices very simple and all the more important. 

“Cannabis is being held as a political hostage,” Mr Siwasan said in an interview at his farm, where cannabis plants towered over vegetable plots. “It’s only made it halfway to the dream, which is difficult to achieve without legal clarity.” 

It’s not clear how they’ll react if Thailand’s policy, which also allows limited use of cannabis in food and cosmetics, gets scaled back. 

The Bhumjaithai party “did what was promised” when it got cannabis decriminalised, said Kajkanit Sakdisubha, the founder of Taratera, which buys the plant from local growers to sell in its five dispensaries in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. “If it gets reversed, I believe we’ll see a lot of people on the streets wondering if they need to close down shops and farms because a different party is in power and has a different opinion.”

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The Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) is drafting an amendment to the “Protection of a Child Born by Medically Assisted Reproductive Technology Act, B.E. 2558 (2015)” to increase the penalties against those who facilitate illegal surrogacy in the country, including brokers and hired women.

“We are amending this act,” DHSS chief Sura Wisetsak said on Thursday, adding the draft is being made after the department became highly concerned about an increasing number of illegal surrogates in the country.

The department is currently working with the Royal Thai Police’s investigation team to determine whether wrongdoers are exploiting loopholes with foreign criminal syndicates, he said.

The draft aims to increase the financial penalty and jail term for anyone found guilty of being a broker or a hired surrogate, he said. However, he would not go into the details, saying the drafting process is still ongoing.

Illegal surrogacy is a problem in Thailand. During the pandemic, many surrogates could not deliver their babies abroad due to border closures, resulting in some children being born and abandoned in Thailand.

The Department of Special Investigation found that last year, at least 19 children were born in the kingdom via illegal surrogacy. They are now under the care of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

Akom Praditsuwan, deputy DHSS chief, said there are 108 nursing care units providing assisted reproductive technology in state and private hospitals.

The success rate is relatively high at 46%, with 20,000 cases of in-vitro fertilisation and 12,000 artificial breedings, he said.

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Nakhon Si Thammarat: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he will quit politics if the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party, of which he is a prime ministerial candidate and its chief strategist, fails to secure enough House seats to form a government in Sunday’s election.

Gen Prayut made the pledge while out canvassing for support on behalf of Nonthiwat Nonthaphak, the party’s election candidate running in the southern province’s third constituency, during a campaign rally in Pak Phanang district.

“The party’s candidates in all constituencies are important to me,” he said.

“If we win only a small number of constituency seats, I will just return home and take a rest,” Gen Prayut went on to say.

“We need to win as many House seats as possible so we can form a strong and solid government that can work faster,” he said, noting with many MPs in parliament, the party will stand a better chance of nominating and choosing a prime minister after the election on Sunday.

“Previously, I had to work with several parties and many groups. Some were easy to deal with, but some were not,” he said.

He went on to say that: “I’ve spent many years as a soldier and went through several crises. Today, I am a politician. It is different. When I spoke to soldiers, I had to be firm.

“But when I speak to people, it is different, and I think I prefer this way,” Gen Prayut said.

“You trusted me once [in the previous election]. Please trust me again [in Sunday’s election,” the prime minister added.

The UTN will hold a final major election campaign rally today, which will be organised around the main theme: “Don’t let Uncle Tu fight alone. Step forward to protect the country. Unite all hearts and minds. United Thai Nation” at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok.

Uncle Tu is Gen Prayut’s nickname.

A number of the party’s key figures will appear on stage to deliver campaign speeches to supporters and voters.

These include UTN leader Pirapan Salirathavi­bhaga, party secretary-general Akanat Promphan, with Gen Prayut scheduled to wrap up the event with his speech.

Gen Prayut will also lead key party figures in campaigning around the city, riding on the back of a pickup truck around key districts tomorrow, which is the last day of campaigning by political parties.

By law, parties must stop their campaigns before 6pm on Saturday.

On Election Day, Gen Prayut will cast his ballot at a polling station beneath a tollway flyover near Soi Pradiphat 5 on Pradiphat Road in Bangkok’s Phaya Thai district, several sources told the Bangkok Post on Thursday.

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Nakhon Si Thammarat: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he will quit politics if the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party, of which he is a prime ministerial candidate and its chief strategist, fails to secure enough House seats to form a government in Sunday’s election.

Gen Prayut made the pledge while out canvassing for support on behalf of Nonthiwat Nonthaphak, the party’s election candidate running in the southern province’s third constituency, during a campaign rally in Pak Phanang district.

“The party’s candidates in all constituencies are important to me,” he said.

“If we win only a small number of constituency seats, I will just return home and take a rest,” Gen Prayut went on to say.

“We need to win as many House seats as possible so we can form a strong and solid government that can work faster,” he said, noting with many MPs in parliament, the party will stand a better chance of nominating and choosing a prime minister after the election on Sunday.

“Previously, I had to work with several parties and many groups. Some were easy to deal with, but some were not,” he said.

He went on to say that: “I’ve spent many years as a soldier and went through several crises. Today, I am a politician. It is different. When I spoke to soldiers, I had to be firm.

“But when I speak to people, it is different, and I think I prefer this way,” Gen Prayut said.

“You trusted me once [in the previous election]. Please trust me again [in Sunday’s election,” the prime minister added.

The UTN will hold a final major election campaign rally today, which will be organised around the main theme: “Don’t let Uncle Tu fight alone. Step forward to protect the country. Unite all hearts and minds. United Thai Nation” at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok.

Uncle Tu is Gen Prayut’s nickname.

A number of the party’s key figures will appear on stage to deliver campaign speeches to supporters and voters.

These include UTN leader Pirapan Salirathavi­bhaga, party secretary-general Akanat Promphan, with Gen Prayut scheduled to wrap up the event with his speech.

Gen Prayut will also lead key party figures in campaigning around the city, riding on the back of a pickup truck around key districts tomorrow, which is the last day of campaigning by political parties.

By law, parties must stop their campaigns before 6pm on Saturday.

On Election Day, Gen Prayut will cast his ballot at a polling station beneath a tollway flyover near Soi Pradiphat 5 on Pradiphat Road in Bangkok’s Phaya Thai district, several sources told the Bangkok Post on Thursday.

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Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a key Progressive Movement figure who is assisting the Move Forward Party’s election campaign, on Thursday urged its supporters to fight all attempts to discredit Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader and sole prime ministerial candidate of the MFP, as well as any attempts to keep the party from winning the upcoming election.

Mr Piyabutr was referring to petitions submitted to the Election Commission (EC) accusing Mr Pita, 42, of being ineligible to contest the election due to his media company shares.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Mr Piyabutr called on supporters to join hands in canvassing for more than 10 million votes for the MFP, so it can win the highest number of parliamentary seats to lead the formation of a new government.

“With this extremely high popularity, we now have to think big and dream big, not just be a middle-sized party in a coalition government,” Mr Piyabutr said. “We will have to [obtain] the highest number of seats and lead the new government.”

He said the petitions lodged against Mr Pita were essentially a “legal war” to destroy the MFP.

Mr Piyabutr said neither the party nor its supporters would shudder, however. He said the only way to deal with this threat is to fight back.

Niwatchai Kasemmongkol, secretary-general of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), on Thursday insisted Mr Pita had already declared the shares under his name in iTV Plc, although he could not remember when Mr Pita actually declared them.

Mr Niwatchai was responding to questions raised over whether Mr Pita had failed to declare 42,000 iTV shares to the NACC when he was sworn in as an MP after the 2019 election.

“Mr Pita might at first be unsure if those shares were his, as he serves as executor of the inherited shares,” Mr Niwatchai said.

“That could be the reason why he declared them later.”

“As for whether his holding of these shares may make him ineligible to run in the coming election or not, the EC will have to judge,” he added.

Election Commission secretary-general Sawaeng Boonmee said there were only about two days left till Election Day, which may not be sufficient for the commission to complete its investigation into the matter.

After all, the investigation could be done after the election, he said, adding it is more important to allow the probe sufficient time to ensure fairness for all sides.

Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a Palang Pracharath Party list-MP candidate who on Wednesday petitioned the EC to look into Mr Pita’s iTV share issue, yesterday submitted more documents to the EC to support his allegations.

Mr Ruangkrai also raised a question on whether the registration of MFP MP candidates in all 400 constituencies might also be declared invalid later if Mr Pita, who approved their registrations, is disqualified over the iTV shareholding issue.

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The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said it requires every political party to send their policy corruption risk assessment criteria reports to the Election Commission (EC) as soon as possible as the EC will submit the results to the NACC after this Sunday’s election.

The NACC said it wanted to clarify its urgent letter issued on May 3 to every political party, adding the requirement was one of the legal inspection processes to prevent election fraud, Phuthep Taweechotthanakun, the NACC’s deputy spokesman, said yesterday.

The agency approved the requirement on Feb 1 before passing it to the EC, citing Section 32 of the Organic Law on Corruption Prevention. Mr Phuthep said the section gives full authority to the NACC to propose any measures to the cabinet and related sectors in a bid to prevent corruption, including setting up the mechanisms that help them prevent such acts from occurring.

The EC will apply the requirement using its authority under Section 57 of the Organic Law on Political Parties, said Mr Phuthep.

The EC is required to gather the corruption risk assessment reports and draw conclusions from the results after the election, he said.

To provide the quantitative information to the NACC, the EC was required to send the following to it: the list of registered political parties, the list of elected political parties, the list of those making the assessment reports and those that did not, and the list of coalitions and those that conducted the assessment reports as part of a policy development process.

The EC was also required to send qualitative information to the NACC, which included comments from both the commission and the elected parties on the assessment.

According to Mr Phuthep, the report was developed from a corruption risk assessment report conducted on public projects, which the cabinet approved in June 2019. The report is used as a mechanism to help establish the transparency of the parties’ campaign policies.

It is expected to help prevent policy corruption, which has been rife in recent years, from damaging the economy and society.

It also serves as a platform for the parties to display their visions in relation to their campaign policies, which helps voters make informed decisions, said Mr Phuthep.

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A group of academics has launched a public campaign that is urging senators to support the political party that wins the majority of House seats in Sunday’s poll to lead in forming a new government.

The public can participate in the campaign from midday on Monday until midday Wednesday by scanning the campaign’s QR code and voting whether or not they agree with the campaign, said Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, a law lecturer at Thammasat University.

The results of the campaign vote will be made public at 1.30pm on Wednesday, he said.

The campaign is designed to be a virtual public forum to convey to the rest of the nation a strong message that there should never be any organisation which doesn’t come from the public that tries to distort the public consensus to help some parties gain power to govern the country, said Phichai Ratnatilaka Na Bhuket of the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida).

Mr Phichai said that he also wondered whether the Election Commission, which was selected by the Senate that the 2014 coup makers installed, was being interfered with.

“I expect to see the Election Commission change the way it thinks and works so as to prove itself against the criticism that it is under the influence of those who appointed it,” said Mr Phichai.

Thanaporn Sriyakul of Kasetsart University said he is optimistic that the Senate will be fair and just during the selection of a new prime minister.

The campaign is aimed primarily at communicating the public’s views to the Senate, said Olarn Thinbangtieo of Burapha University, adding that the public expects all senators to respect such views.

He called on the Senate to soon make a clear stance on whether it intends to respect and support the decision made by the majority of voters.

The EC and the Senate should be aware that they should have an important role in ending political conflicts, not creating them, said Wanwichit Boonprong of Rangsit University.

“You [senators] are the people who will bring about peace in Thai politics, not war,” he said.

Mr Prinya also called on the new House speaker to consider changing the order of MPs and senators voting in selecting the new prime minister so that MPs vote first.

This way, the senators will have a clearer picture of what the majority of MPs want in the prime minister selection, he said, adding the senators should then respect the MPs’ will.

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