Does Thailand export weed? What the seizure figure tells exporters

Thai Customs seized 59,343 kg of flower leaving Thailand in fiscal year 2026. Verified It shows that border enforcement is real. It does not show how much cannabis leaves the country in total, and it says nothing about the lawful route, which exists and is narrow.

This article separates the two doors out of Thailand, sets out the enforcement steps of 2026 and says what a licensed exporter should do. The licence calendar that sits across every exporter is in the report.

Two doors, one figure

There is a lawful door and an unlawful door. The lawful door is a flower licence that covers export, flower from a compliant source, export details notified to the licensor and the destination country's own permit. See is it legal to export cannabis from Thailand.

The other door is carrying flower out without completing customs procedures. The seizure figure belongs to that door. It counts what Customs caught, by weight, over fiscal year 2026, which ran from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. The source is Customs Department press release of 7 October 2026.

What the figure does and does not tell you

It tells you that flower leaving Thailand without a lawful route is being found at the border, and that a shipment with weak paperwork can be treated as smuggling.

It does not tell you:

• Total trade. A seizure total depends on how hard Customs looks as well as on how much moves.
• Destinations. A weight total does not record where the flower was going.
• Anything about licensed exporters. Those shipments are not seizures.

The honest reading is narrow: a count of flower stopped at the border in one fiscal year, and nothing more should be built on it.

What changed on enforcement in 2026

• 17 June 2026. Customs applies a fine of THB 30,000 per kilogram seized in cannabis export smuggling, and seized cannabis is forfeited to the state, as reported by Pattaya Mail. Estimated
• 22 June 2026. The DTAM penalty guideline sets suspensions of 30 days and 90 days, with revocation on repeat. A 90 day suspension follows where export details are not notified to the licensor. Estimated
• July 2026. Nation Thailand, reporting a statement by the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, and the U.S. Embassy both say that taking cannabis out of Thailand without completing customs formalities can carry up to ten years in prison. They describe the fine differently, so check the Customs Act text. Estimated
• 22 October 2026. After chairing the Narcotics Control Board, the Prime Minister said Narcotics Code amendments would raise cannabis penalties, licences would be renewed only after inspection, and export checks would tighten. Verified No penalty details had been published by 30 October 2026. As reported by The Star (Bernama), the statement added that exports of stems, leaves and flower buds must comply strictly with Thai law.

Separately, selling without a licence carries up to one year in prison, a fine of up to THB 20,000, or both, under section 78 of the Thai Traditional Medicine Wisdom Act B.E. 2542 (1999), as Nation Thailand reported. Verified

Why this matters to a licensed exporter

A lawful exporter is not the target of these measures, but it sits in the same inspection lane. Three things follow.

Your paperwork is your defence. The invoice, the certificate of analysis and the permit should carry the same product description and batch ID. A mismatch is what turns a lawful shipment into a question at the border.

Your source must be compliant. Since 26 June 2025 flower that a licensee sells or exports must come from a farm certified by DTAM to its good cultivation and harvest standard or, since 1 August 2025, from a harvest that carries a laboratory certificate of analysis. A DTAM notification gazetted on 12 September 2025 made the per harvest route formal. Either route lets flower enter licensed export. Verified See GACP certification in Thailand.

Your licence must be current. Every licence in force reaches its statutory expiry by 31 December 2028, and 37.5% of licences in force face renewal on 31 December 2026. Verified A renewal must pass the rules in force since 30 April 2026. See what happens to a licence on 31 December 2026.

Common misreadings

• "The seizure figure is the export figure." It counts what was stopped. It is a record of enforcement, not of trade.
• "A licensed exporter has nothing to worry about." The licence is the start. Paperwork, source and licence status are all checked.
• "Extracts travel the same way as flower." They do not. Extract production, import and export for medical or industrial purposes needs a licence under the 2026 extracts regulation, in force since 25 April 2026, and is open only to a juristic person that is not foreign under the Foreign Business Act, a state agency or the Thai Red Cross Society. Verified

If you farm, export or fund an exporter

1. Ask every buyer, in writing, whether the shipment is a licensed export. Walk away from any that is not.
2. Match batch IDs and product descriptions across every document in the shipment.
3. Confirm your licence status and your source route, certificate or harvest test, before you commit to a delivery date.
4. Brief anyone who handles paperwork or couriers on the Customs penalties. Responsibility does not stop at the farm gate.
5. Take Thai counsel before you structure any foreign buyer relationship.

Section 3 of the report, free to read, sets out the rules in force with their sources. If you want the licence and sourcing rules applied to an export plan, start with a call.

Sources

• Section 3 of the 2026 report, The rules in force (free to read)
• Customs Department, press release of 7 October 2026
• Pattaya Mail, Thailand targets cannabis traffickers with new per kilo trafficking penalty, 19 June 2026
• Nation Thailand, Cannabis buds remain prescription only, ONCB warns retailers, 12 July 2026
• U.S. Embassy Thailand, Alert: Thailand Customs Policy Update, 9 July 2026
• The Star (Bernama), Thailand to tighten cannabis controls and propose tougher penalties, 22 October 2026
• Thai Traditional Medicine Wisdom Act B.E. 2542 (1999), English translation, section 78
• Cannabis Law Report, Two new regulations now in force, May 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.