South-East Asia is notorious for its brutal approach to policing drug use and production. But in Thailand change is afoot, as authorities seek to develop a homegrown medical marijuana industry.

Key points: Thailand is the first South-East Asian country to legalise medical marijuana

Thailand is the first South-East Asian country to legalise medical marijuana Officials hope it will boost agricultural incomes and attract more medical tourists

Officials hope it will boost agricultural incomes and attract more medical tourists Neighbouring Malaysia has signalled its intention to decriminalise drug use

Its conservative, military-dominated Government has spearheaded the effort, which seeks to make Thailand a regional centre for the production and distribution of medical marijuana.

Earlier this month, Thailand's Ministry of Public Health launched its first full-time medical marijuana clinic in Bangkok.

It has approved use of cannabis extracts for treatment of a range of illnesses and conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and anxiety.

The Government has promised to open more clinics in greater Bangkok, with patients able to book appointments via a specialised smartphone app.

Front and centre of the Thai Government's campaign to promote medicinal marijuana is its mascot Dr Ganja, an approachable, leaf-headed scientist.

Thailand's strongman Prime Minister, former military general Prayut Chan-o-cha, has personally promoted legal cannabis, recently appearing enjoying a cannabis inhaler alongside Dr Ganja.

So where did this push towards developing Thailand's legal cannabis industry come from, and could it signal further liberalisation of drug use in South-East Asia?

When did the push towards medical marijuana start?

First outlawed in 1935, marijuana has reportedly been a part of traditional Thai medicine and cooking for centuries, mainly used as a versatile form of pain relief.

Thailand legalised medical marijuana in December 2018, making it the first country in South-East Asia to do so.

The military-dominated parliament voted to amend the 1979 Narcotic Act to approve the use of marijuana for medical use and research, calling it a "New Year's gift" to the Thai people.

A dedicated Health Ministry website now provides information to the Thai public about cannabis cultivation, medical research and the legal status of marijuana in the country.

Authorities have showcased a range of cannabis oil products made in Thailand. ( Reuters: Jorge Silva )

Government agencies, higher education institutions, agricultural producers, social enterprises and medical professionals are now permitted to grow marijuana for medical purposes.

In April last year, Rangsit University in Bangkok launched the country's first medical cannabis research institution.

It is reportedly home to Asia's first "ganja studies" program, which the university says has attracted significant interest.

Possession and trafficking of the drug still attract harsh penalties.

But further slated legal changes could allow people to bring medical cannabis into Thailand and foreigners to hold stakes in commercial cannabis producers of up to 33 per cent.

Foreign cannabis producers are already eyeing the Thai market.

US firm Rafarma Pharmaceuticals recently employed a Thai corporate officer in order to run its "upcoming" Thai operations and create "the most synergy between the company's European and Thai cannabis cultivation operations", it said in a statement.

Why did Thailand decide to promote medical marijuana?

Put simply, the military establishment recognises there are huge business and tax revenue-raising opportunities to be had.

According to a 2019 study by Grand View Research, a US-based market research firm, the global legal marijuana market is expected to be worth US$66.3 billion ($96 billion) by the end of 2025.

"The cannabis market, and all illegal drugs, are controlled by the black market — organised crime," Gino Vumbaca, president of Harm Reduction Australia, said.

Drug policy advocates argue cannabis should be treated the same as alcohol and tobacco. ( ABC News: Meghna Bali )

"Compare that to alcohol and tobacco, where the Government takes revenue which goes back into treatment and health promotion. There's money that feeds back into the community."

Thai lawmakers have no doubt watched the rapid growth of the legal cannabis industry in North America, which has pumped money into Government coffers and created hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The US state of Colorado, for example, rakes in more than $29 million per month in fees and taxes applied to legal cannabis.

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Marijuana market researchers Prohibition Partners predict that the Asian medical cannabis market could be worth $8.4 billion by 2024.

"A regulated legal cannabis market could be transformative to patients, farmers and economies across Asia," Prohibition Partners managing director, Daragh Anglim, said in a statement.

"From a financial standpoint, as the world's most populous region, the legalisation of cannabis could encourage robust economic growth across the region, buoyed by both local and international demand."

Prohibition Partners claims that Thailand's national cannabis industry will be worth $958 million by 2024.

Thailand hopes its medicinal marijuana clinics can attract foreign medical tourists. ( AP: Sakchai Lalit )

Marijuana has been heralded as a way that impoverished Thai farmers might diversify their crop production.

"I expect Thailand can make 100 billion baht ($4.8 billion) a year from growing cannabis and selling the raw material and cannabis oil," Prapat Panyachartrak, chairman of the National Farmers Council of Thailand, told AFP in 2018.

Thailand is already one of the largest medical tourism destinations in the world.

Officials also hope that medical marijuana will attract even more medical tourists to the Kingdom.

"We would like to provide medical tour packages, such as detox, Thai massage and other wellness courses that use marijuana substances," Thailand's tourism minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan said on his first day in office in mid-2019, as quoted by the Bangkok Post.

Could it see further liberalisation of drug policy in Thailand?

Anutin Charnvirakul, now-Deputy Prime Minister, Public Health Minister and leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, campaigned on a pro-cannabis platform during the March 2019 general election campaign.

Mr Charnvirakul presented himself as a superhero alter-ego "weedman" and endorsed the idea of allowing regular Thais to grow up to six marijuana plants at home.

The proposed reforms would appear to have popular support.

According to the Bangkok Post, a recent poll showed that more than half of Thais surveyed support full legalisation of marijuana.

This signals that Thailand could be on the road to legalisation of cannabis for recreational use.

"What you see is Thailand, correctly I think, changing its approach to drugs by looking at marijuana in a different way that they look at methamphetamines," Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, told the ABC last year.

But observers say Thailand is unlikely to treat other recreational drugs in the same way as marijuana or loosen its tough approach to illegal drugtaking.

"If nothing else, it causes other nations to stop and think about what they're doing," Mr Vumbaca said.

"'Drug free Asia' has been the motto of ASEAN [the Association of South-East Asian Nations] for many, many years.

"Thailand's new approach is based in the real world, not a fantasy world."

South-East Asian governments are renowned for imposing the toughest drug penalties on the planet. ( AP )

And gradual change is happening elsewhere in the region.

Amid an increasing recognition of drug addiction as a public health issue, Malaysia's Government is looking to decriminalise drug use, while maintaining harsh penalties for trafficking.

"Incarceration is expensive and has proven ineffective in curbing drug use, and prison populations across South-East Asia have been rising as the levels of methamphetamine production, trafficking and use have been rising," Jeremy Douglas from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and Eamonn Murphy from UNAIDS, wrote in a recent opinion piece.