Smoking Weed in Thailand: The Legal Hangover Malaysians Could Face at Home

Weed, ganja, the devil’s lettuce. All are used to describe cannabis, one of the most popular recreational drugs in the world and a Malaysian favourite. 

Cannabis is banned throughout Asia, except Thailand.

In 2018, Thailand decriminalized cannabis usage, and by 2022, cannabis was sold freely next to grilled sausages and mango sticky rice. 

While the laws regulating the use of cannabis in Thailand are still in their infancy, this move has wide-ranging implications for Malaysian tourists travelling to Thailand – especially those travelling there to get high.

Studies have shown that cannabis can stay in the body for up to 30 days, depending on the frequency of consumption. In other words, unless there is a 30-day window between the time you last consumed it and your return to Malaysia, there is a chance of you testing positive for drug use upon landing.

Despite having consumed it in a country where cannabis consumption is legal, the reality is that you are testing positive for a drug which is illegal in Malaysia. 

Can you go to prison or worse – face the death penalty?

What are the implications for those of us planning our next “green retreat” to Thailand?

Penalty for usage and/or consumption

The biggest question is probably, what’s the punishment? Consumption of cannabis in Malaysia is punishable with a fine of up to RM 5,000, a jail term of up to 2 years, or both. 

No, there is no death penalty for consuming cannabis in Malaysia. Those of you holding in a hit can breathe easy.

How would the authorities know if you’ve been  puff, puff and passing? A urine test. 

A positive drug test is damning, and there isn’t much that can be done apart from challenging the accuracy of the test. That has its difficulties.

The question then becomes, does it matter that you consumed the drug in Thailand, or even Amsterdam for that matter?

The answer appears to be yes. 

The state of the law

Interestingly, there hasn’t been any reported cases of Malaysian tourists being convicted of cannabis use after returning from Thailand.

Instead, the case we would rely on to support this conclusion is one completely unrelated to drugs, but one concerning bigamy. Bigamy is the offence of marrying more than 1 wife.

In PP v Rajappan, Rajappan – an Indian national who had registered his first marriage in Malaysia – married his second wife when he visited India. He then brought her to Malaysia when he returned. Oddly enough, the judges felt a need to point out that Rajappan and his second wife have since begun living together in Klang.

This raised the question of whether he has committed the crime of bigamy, an act which is allowed in Hinduism, but criminalized in Malaysia (except for Muslim men who are allowed to marry up to 4 wives).

In short, the Court found that as a general rule, a person tried under our laws cannot be found guilty for a crime committed overseas, unless the law criminalizing such an act is expressly stated to have extra-territorial effect i.e. the law applies overseas.

As of the time this article is written, the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which criminalizes cannabis consumption in Malaysia, does not have an extra-territorial effect. The highest court in our land, the Federal Court, affirmed this in the case of Amin Ravan v Menteri Dalam Negeri & Others (2015).

Therefore as it stands, even if you consumed cannabis overseas (regardless of whether it is legal in said country) you cannot be found guilty of cannabis use in Malaysia.

However, our lawmakers do have the option of amending the law to make it extra-territorial – or in the case of PP v Rajappan, subsequently amending the specific wording of the provision to criminalise bigamy in Malaysia “whether such marriage has taken place within Malaysia or outside Malaysia”.

Notwithstanding all of the above, you can still be subject to the entire police investigative process by police officers who may not know the law and be detained for that period.

Should you choose to consume cannabis on your next Thailand trip, do so responsibly and at your own risk.