Thailand’s Deputy Interior Minister Orders Phuket Cannabis Crackdown Under Operation 90 Days

Phuket operation follows arrests and a suspended licence

Phonphir travelled to Phuket with special operations officers from the Department of Provincial Administration for inspections in Cherng Talay, in Thalang district. The operation was conducted with Phuket Governor Chotinrin Kerdsom, Deputy Director-General Ronarong Tipsiri of the Department of Provincial Administration, Deputy Government Spokesperson Ploytale Laksameesangchan and Thalang District Chief Wilailak Ruangpon.

The visit was presented as more than a routine licensing check. Authorities described it as part of a wider effort to restore social order, suppress influential figures and pursue drug-related offences across Phuket. The immediate lead came from the arrest of two Thai female suspects with cannabis that officials said was being moved out of the province.

At one targeted establishment, officials found that the business licence had already been temporarily suspended following three regulatory violations. Despite the suspension, the shop was still openly serving customers. Bangkok and local authorities are preparing to seek permanent revocation of the establishment’s licence, according to the report.

Officials inspect a Thalang cannabis shop

The Thalang shop’s records became a second line of inquiry

The inspection did not stop at the shop’s public-facing operations. Officials reviewed the establishment’s records and data systems for evidence that customers had supplied the documentation required under medical cannabis controls.

The report said investigators found no customer documentation or medical certificates. Officials interpreted that absence as a strong indication that the business was selling to the general public and foreign tourists without the medical documentation required by the control framework. The authorities’ conclusion remains an allegation arising from the inspection and is separate from the question of whether the business’s licence will ultimately be revoked.

Officials also said the shop continued to conduct sales while its licence was suspended. That combination—an existing administrative order, continued operation and missing medical records—forms the central compliance issue in the Phuket case.

The breaches identified by authorities

The inspection findings described in the report centred on four connected concerns:

• The establishment allegedly continued operating after its licence had been temporarily suspended.
• Officials said the suspension followed three regulatory violations.
• The shop was accused of selling cannabis and cannabis-related food items in breach of administrative orders and the Food Act.
• Its records contained no medical documentation or certificates from customers, according to the inspection report.

The Food Act reference is significant because the authorities described the conduct not only as a licensing matter but also as a breach involving the handling and sale of cannabis-related food products. The case therefore combines administrative enforcement with possible criminal or regulatory proceedings.

The distinction matters for Thailand’s licensed dispensary industry. The government and the Ministry of Public Health are not described as opposing every licensed operator; rather, the minister said businesses with clear licences and genuine medical-purpose operations would receive support, while operators using nominees or ignoring official orders would face enforcement.

Phonphir’s warning was direct:

We will X-ray the entire province to restore social order. Any illegal activity will be immediately prosecuted.

Deputy Interior Minister Phonphir Suwanchawi

The order covers every establishment across Phuket

The deputy minister instructed the Phuket governor, local administration and police to conduct comprehensive inspections across the island. His order was framed as a province-wide sweep rather than a response limited to the single shop visited in Thalang.

The Phuket operation followed a separate provincial campaign announced on 7 July. That campaign was described as a 90-day anti-drugs effort focused on trafficking, drug dealers, trafficking networks, drug-free communities and associated financial crimes, as reported by Phuket News. The two initiatives place the Thalang inspection within a broader enforcement programme already active in the province.

How the enforcement sequence developed

The minister specifically identified the types of activity that should be examined:

• Unlicensed cannabis shops.
• Businesses selling unauthorised products.
• Businesses secretly mixing cannabis into food.
• Operators selling illegally to foreigners for alleged smuggling through airports or buses.
• Businesses suspected of using Thai nominees to conceal foreign-controlled operations.

The nominee-business reference adds a commercial and ownership dimension to the operation. Authorities are not only checking whether a shop has a licence; they are also examining whether the business structure is being used to conceal activity that officials consider unlawful.

A province-wide inspection message

Thailand’s medical-use direction sharpens the compliance test

Thailand’s cannabis framework is evolving, and the Phuket action shows how authorities are applying the current administrative and public-health controls described in the report. The Ministry of Public Health’s stated direction, as presented by the deputy minister, is that cannabis should be sold by operators with clear licences and for genuine medical purposes.

A proposed national cannabis law would formalise that direction by limiting use to medical purposes and introducing tighter controls on cannabis shops and licensing, according to reporting on Thailand’s draft cannabis law. Because the measure is described as proposed, it should not be treated as a replacement for the rules and administrative orders being enforced in Phuket now.

Separate reporting cited in the research facts says Thai officials have warned that cannabis flower sales require a licence and prescription, with unauthorised sales potentially leading to imprisonment, fines or both. Those warnings reinforce the line drawn in Phuket between licensed dispensaries operating within medical controls and businesses authorities say are acting outside them.

Three layers of control in the current story

The Phuket case can be read alongside the province’s wider campaign and the proposed national framework:

What the Phuket action means for shops and visitors

For operators, the case points to a compliance model based on more than holding a licence at the time a business opens. Authorities are checking whether the licence remains valid, whether a suspension order has been obeyed, whether customer records meet medical-control requirements and whether the business is connected to nominee arrangements.

For residents and international visitors, the report signals that Phuket authorities intend to distinguish between licensed dispensaries operating under Thailand’s medical-purpose framework and businesses alleged to be selling outside it. Thailand’s system is a licensed retail and dispensary system under evolving Thai rules, not a members-only association or club model.

The enforcement message also extends beyond the shop counter. Officials said they would examine possible movement of cannabis out of Phuket through airports and buses, as well as unauthorised mixing into food. Those concerns place the campaign within the government’s wider effort to prevent trafficking and related illegal activity.

Questions raised by Operation 90 Days

The available facts answer several immediate questions for people following the Phuket inspections:

The campaign’s practical effect will depend on what happens after inspections. In the Thalang case, authorities were preparing to pursue permanent licence revocation, while the minister ordered enforcement against unlawful activity across Phuket. The next stage is therefore likely to be measured through prosecutions, administrative decisions and whether businesses comply with suspension orders.

Phuket’s enforcement drive now turns on follow-through

Operation 90 Days places Phuket’s licensed cannabis dispensary sector under a more visible compliance test. The immediate case involves a shop authorities said continued operating after suspension, missing medical records and suspected links to wider concerns about trafficking and nominee businesses. The broader order is to inspect every establishment across the island while preserving a distinction between compliant medical-purpose operators and businesses accused of breaking Thai rules.