Method

Why Did We Spend Our Own Money as Cannabis Customers in Thailand?

The Thailand Cannabis Report  ·  2026 Edition  ·  Field-verified market intelligence  ยท  Last reviewed: 2026

Before we wrote a word about this market, we spent more than ten thousand dollars of our own money as paying customers across the country. That was not incidental. It was method.

What Is the Gap Between a Shop's Pitch and Its Actual Transaction?

Every shop has a story it tells about itself. What matters for a market estimate is what the shop actually does at the point of sale. Pricing, product, what gets pushed, what moves. The only way to see that reliably is to stand on the customer side of the counter, repeatedly, and watch.

Why Doesn't Participant Observation Scale, and Why Is That Fine?

This is a slow, expensive way to learn a market. It cannot be automated and it cannot be outsourced. That is precisely why the intelligence it produces is hard to replicate, and why it tends to be closer to the truth than anything assembled at a distance.

The patterns that emerged from that participant view sit underneath the numbers in the report.

Quick answers
Why did the research spend money as paying customers in Thai dispensaries?

Because the only reliable way to see what a shop actually does at the point of sale, rather than the story it tells about itself, is to stand on the customer side of the counter repeatedly and watch.

How much was spent as paying customers?

More than ten thousand dollars, spent before a word was written about this market.

What is the gap between a shop's pitch and its actual transaction?

Every shop has a story it tells about itself. What matters for a market estimate is what it actually does at the point of sale: pricing, product, what gets pushed, what moves.

Why doesn't this method scale, and why is that acceptable?

It is slow and expensive and cannot be automated or outsourced, which is precisely why the intelligence it produces is hard to replicate and closer to the truth.

The narrative is free. The numbers are in the report.

This post gives you the argument. The full method, the figures, and the confidence ratings behind them are in the report. Read a free sample chapter, then decide.

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