Leasing to a cannabis shop in Thailand: what should a landlord check?

If you lease to a cannabis shop in Thailand, your rent depends on a licence with a date on it. The licence rules also place the landlord inside the tenant's file, because renewal needs your written consent. That gives you leverage, and it gives you exposure.

This article sets out the dated facts a landlord should check and the lease terms worth raising with a Thai legal adviser. The licence calendar applied to a whole portfolio of tenants is in the report.

Why the landlord is part of the licence file

A flower licence carries conditions about the premises. The applicant must own them or hold a possessory right in them, and a lease satisfies that. Where the applicant is not the owner, the owner's written consent is part of the file. Renewal needs the landlord's written consent. Verified

The other conditions touch the building too. Flower must be stored separately and off the floor, at least one DTAM trained worker must be on duty, and the shop must have an effective odour and smoke removal system. Verified Cannabis Law Report's summary adds that undocumented subleasing arrangements are no longer compatible with the licence. Estimated

First check: the licence expiry date

Ask to see the licence and read the expiry date. Under section 46 of the Thai Traditional Medicine Wisdom Act B.E. 2542 (1999), a licence runs to 31 December of the third year from its year of issue, counting the year of issue as year one. Every licence in force therefore reaches its statutory expiry by 31 December 2028. Verified

The next wave falls on 31 December 2026, when 37.5% of licences in force face renewal. Verified A lease that runs for years beyond the licence expiry is a bet that the tenant renews. See the three expiry waves to 2028 and the licence renewal checklist for 31 December 2026.

Second check: can the tenant pass renewal?

A renewal must be filed in the sixty days before the licence expires, under clause 11 of the regulation as amended. Since 30 April 2026 a flower licence, new or renewed, is open only to an applicant that holds one of six qualifying routes: a medical facility licence; a licence to manufacture or sell herbal products; a licence to manufacture or sell drugs; a licence to manufacture Category 5 narcotics limited to cannabis or hemp extract; a folk healer certificate; or a cultivation site used to supply licensees. Verified

Of the licences due to renew in 2025, 5 in 6 did not complete renewal. Verified

Where a licensee was previously suspended for breaching a controlled herb notification, the regulation says the licensing authority "shall consider not renewing". It is a discretion, not an automatic bar. Verified

A shop that filed in time may keep trading until the licensor decides, on the reading of the published texts, though that point is not settled. Estimated See section 49 and trading while a renewal is pending.

Third check: the penalty tariff

The tiers announced by the Ministry of Public Health on 22 June 2026 are the ones a lease should anticipate. The guideline text itself has not been published. Estimated

• 30 day suspension: reports on forms PT.27 or PT.28 not kept or filed; sale or export without DTAM certification; licence not displayed or produced; advertising for commerce.
• 90 day suspension: a sale without a PT.33 prescription, or export details not notified to the licensor.
• Immediate revocation: false PT.27 or PT.28 reports; sale to barred buyers; permitting smoking on the premises; online sale.

Suspensions are capped at 90 days in total, and a repeated breach leads to revocation. If the lease is silent, you may be left arguing whether rent is due while the shop is shut. See suspension vs revocation.

Fourth check: section 54 and what a licence cannot do

A revoked licensee may not apply for any licence for two years under section 54. Verified If your tenant is revoked, the premises can sit idle for longer than the revocation itself.

The Act provides for issuing, renewing, replacing, suspending and revoking a licence. It does not provide for transferring one to another holder or premises. Verified

Lease terms to raise with your legal adviser

• Term and break rights. Align the lease term with the licence expiry, or add a break right if the licence is not renewed.
• Licence as a condition. Make a valid licence for the premises a condition of the right to trade, and require a copy of the licence and of each renewal.
• Suspension and revocation. State what happens to rent and to the lease on a 30 day suspension, a 90 day suspension and a revocation.
• Compliance covenant. Require the tenant to meet the licence conditions, including odour and smoke control, and to pass on any notice it receives.
• Fit out and reinstatement. Agree who installs, owns and removes the odour system and the storage, and who restores the premises.
• Owner consent. Put your written consent in a form that matches what the licence file needs, and decide when it can be withdrawn.
• Assignment. Control any sale of the tenant company or any change of licence holder, so you know who is on your premises.

Common misreadings

• "The licence is the tenant's business, not mine." Renewal needs your written consent, so the licence file runs through you.
• "A filed renewal means the rent is safe." Whether a shop may keep trading after filing is a reading of the texts that is not settled.
• "A suspension is just a pause." A prior suspension can lead the licensor to consider not renewing.
• "A new tenant company can step into the old licence." The Act has no transfer provision.

If you own or lease out premises used by a shop

1. Ask for the licence, its expiry date and the renewal status before you sign.
2. Match the lease term and break rights to the licence calendar.
3. Add clauses for suspension, revocation and loss of the licence.
4. Agree the odour system, storage and reinstatement in writing.
5. Take advice from a Thai legal adviser on the consent letter and the lease form.

Section 3 of the report, free to read, sets out the rules in force with their sources. If you want the licence calendar applied to a tenant you are looking at, start with a call.

Sources

• Section 3 of the 2026 report, The rules in force (free to read)
• Thai Traditional Medicine Wisdom Act B.E. 2542 (1999), English translation, sections 46, 49 and 54
• JusLaws, New Thailand cannabis law, 30 April 2026, Ministerial Regulation No. 2 B.E. 2569, 2026
• Cannabis Law Report, Two new regulations now in force, May 2026
• Nation Thailand via Asia News Network, Thai ministry tightens penalties for cannabis shop rule breaches, 23 June 2026

This article is market intelligence, not legal advice. Rules change by notification; check the current text with the licensing authority or Thai counsel before you act.