When my father asked me if I had plans on a Sunday evening several months ago, I expected it was going to be his standard way of ensuring we would have dinner together, something we both cherish. When he instead said, somewhat hesitatingly, "So, how about if we smoke pot together?" I thought he was joking. I looked around, fully expecting a camera crew to pop out of our apartment's shadows to capture the shocked expression plastered on my face. "MY father?" I thought to myself, "The man who is supposed to protect me from the world's darkest influences and offerings is saying that he wants to smoke pot with me, his 16-year-old son?"
His sudden offer to introduce me to pot didn't come from nowhere. The explosion of dispensaries all over Bangkok -- with the number of cannabis shops rivalling the number of 7/11s -- was hard to ignore. These small independent businesses popped up after Covid restrictions had relaxed, and the availability of marijuana sprouted quickly like, well, weeds. The six-pronged green leaf has become arguably the biggest tourist attraction in the Land of Smiles since Thailand is currently the only country in Asia to decriminalise marijuana. This policy change has captured the minds of virtually everyone living in the country: politicians who have made it a campaign theme, public health policymakers who are wrestling with how to educate the public on this now legal substance, and, most importantly, many potential new users -- including many teenagers (like me) who are at our peak of curiosity and experimentation.
