How Buying Cannabis in Pattaya Works

Lounge seating and counter inside CannaBuri, Pattaya

Cannabis in Pattaya: What First-Time Visitors Should Know

24/10/2026

Medical vs Non-Medical Cannabis in Thailand: 2026 Rules

24/10/2026

Published by Rob on 24/10/2026

What changed in June 2025

A Ministry of Public Health notification issued in June 2025 classified cannabis flower as a controlled herb and replaced the 2022 rules. It came into force on 26 June 2025. Anyone who sells, processes, researches or exports cannabis flower commercially needs a licence under Section 46 of the Thai Traditional Medicine Act.

The most important change for buyers is simple: licensed shops may only supply cannabis flower to a person who holds a valid prescription from a Thai-licensed practitioner. The same notification bans sales through vending machines and electronic channels, bans advertising, and bans sales at temples, dormitories, public parks, zoos and amusement parks.

What you need before you buy

A prescription from a Thai-licensed practitioner

The prescription must be issued in Thailand on the official form, known as PT33. You may also hear it called a medical certificate. The notification lists the practitioners who can issue one:

medical doctors
Thai traditional medicine practitioners and applied Thai traditional medicine practitioners
folk healers
Chinese medicine practitioners
pharmacists
dentists

The practitioner decides independently whether cannabis is suitable for you. A prescription covers a stated quantity for no more than 30 days, and it is for one-time use, so it cannot be refilled. Prescriptions and medical cannabis cards from other countries are not accepted in Thailand.

Valid ID, and being 20 or over

Licensed dispensaries must check the identity of the person buying, along with the practitioner’s licence number and signature, so bring your passport or Thai ID card. CannaBuri only serves adults aged 20 and over.

Who cannot be supplied

CannaBuri does not supply women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Under penalty guidelines published by the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM) in June 2026, a shop that sells without a prescription to people under 20, students, or pregnant or breastfeeding women can have its licence revoked.

What to expect inside a licensed dispensary

A licensed shop in 2026 runs more like a pharmacy than the shops many visitors remember. Expect the following:

A licence on display. Failing to display the licence clearly can lead to a 30-day suspension. Provincial public health offices are also issuing colour-coded stickers that show the shop name, the licence expiry date and an eight-digit establishment code.
Trained staff. Under a Ministerial Regulation published on 30 April 2026, shops applying for or renewing a licence must have at least one DTAM-trained staff member present whenever they are open.
Paperwork. Shops must keep every prescription for at least one year and show it to DTAM or the police on request.
Traceable flower. Flower sold by a licensed shop must come from a GACP-certified Thai farm. Our guide to what GACP and CoA mean explains the certificates.
No smoking on site. Shops may not sell cannabis for smoking on their premises, and allowing smoking on site can cost a shop its licence.
No online orders. Sales through websites, apps, chat and other electronic channels are banned, so a licensed shop will not take orders that way.

How to check that a shop is licensed

DTAM runs an online map, the MC-GIS system at cannabis-gis.dtam.moph.go.th, and the Mor Prom app also shows licensed shops and their licence expiry dates. In September 2026 the Public Health Minister said more than 10,000 shop and cultivation locations had been recorded, covering over 95% of sites, and that a shop missing from the system may be presumed to be unregistered.

If a shop offers cannabis flower without asking for a prescription, it is operating outside the rules.

After you leave the shop

Buying legally is only part of it. A few rules apply wherever you go:

Not in public. Cannabis smoke or odour that disturbs others counts as a nuisance under the Public Health Act B.E. 2535. Officials can order it to stop, and ignoring the order can bring up to three months in prison, a fine of up to 25,000 baht, or both.
Check your accommodation. A prescription does not override hotel or condominium rules.
Do not drive a car, motorbike or boat after using cannabis.
Do not take it out of Thailand. A Thai prescription does not allow you to export cannabis or carry it across a border.

Our page on cannabis rules in Thailand for visitors covers these points in more detail.

What may change next

On 22 September 2026, the Cabinet approved a draft Cannabis Control Bill. It would limit cannabis strictly to medical use, require shops that are not medical facilities to become one, with a doctor on the premises, before they can renew their licences, and set tougher penalties. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives. It is not yet law, and its details may change before it is passed.

Current licences run for three years and expire in 2026, 2027 or 2028, so the way dispensaries operate is likely to keep changing as licences come up for renewal.

Questions about the process?

If you would like to understand how prescriptions and ID checks work in practice, you are welcome to visit our store on Pattaya 3rd Road or contact the CannaBuri team. We are happy to explain the rules and answer your questions.

This article is general information, not legal or medical advice.

Buying Cannabis in Pattaya: How It Works in 2026

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