UK-Thailand step up cannabis border controls and enforcement

Thailand has announced tougher penalties for cannabis smugglers following a continued increase in cannabis smuggling from Thailand to other countries, especially the United Kingdom. It also announced a bilateral partnership with the UK to crack down on cannabis smuggling by strengthening border controls and law enforcement.

The Thai Customs Department revised its penalties for cannabis smugglers, effective June 17, so offenders will now face a fine of 30,000 baht per kilogram of cannabis found. Those who fail to pay the fine will face legal proceedings under Thai law. Since its revision, the department says it has arrested 71 smugglers and seized 1.3 tonnes of cannabis.

“We revised the punishment, not because we want the fines, but because we want to discourage smugglers from doing it. If they don’t have money to pay the fines, they will be detained,” Director-General of Thai Customs, Phantong Loykulnanta, said.

The Director-General also pointed to a pattern in which smugglers have exploited regulations. One factor behind the smuggling attempts is that cannabis prices overseas are 40 times higher than in Thailand, which offers these crime groups higher profits.

“Previously, when we seized the cannabis we arrested the wrongdoers. They would have to dump it (at the airport) before they were allowed to travel. We realised that, after the seizure, they ended up postponing their flights and came back three days later to smuggle cannabis again,” Phantong explains.

The Thai Customs Department also revealed that over 37,210 kilograms of cannabis were seized between last October and June this year, worth 474 million baht. Out of 3,309 cases in that period, 65% were destined for the UK.

Meanwhile, the UK’s National Crime Agency’s Head of Borders Threat Team, Beki Wright, said cannabis smuggling by air passengers into the UK have reached unprecedented levels since Thailand decriminalised cannabis in 2022. Those arrested are mostly British nationals, but include some foreigners.

The number of cannabis smugglers arrested in the UK surged from 142 in 2023 to 801 in 2024, a 464% increase in a single year, and rose further to 976 smugglers in 2025. By June 2025, 600 smugglers had already been arrested.

“There's a misconception that Thai cannabis is much better than UK cannabis,” Beki explains. “Cannabis is cannabis. It's just that Thai cannabis is cheaper to grow and manufacture, so the profit for the crime groups appears to be greater, which is why the Thai cannabis is being used and smuggled.”

The UK’s National Crime Agency said that it is working closely with Thai authorities to reduce the volume of cannabis leaving Thailand. It is also coordinating with other countries, such as the United States and Canada, to combat transnational cannabis and heroin smuggling.

“I think that the volume is the issue but, with our collective work, we are starting to have an impact. More importantly, we are starting to ensure that the risk of getting caught is increasing and try to ensure that, basically, it's not worth the courier's time,” says Beki.

The British Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission, David Thomas, agreed that the volume of trafficking remains the issue, especially with millions of tourists arriving in and departing from Thailand each year, with some of them involved in cannabis trafficking.

As such, he emphasised that UK law enforcement is working closely with the Thai authorities to prevent potential cannabis trafficking in all forms.

“Since the decriminalisation of cannabis in Thailand, UK Law enforcement has been working really closely with customs, immigration and police, right across the law enforcement spectrum. That's in the airports, but also in parcel and container freight,” says David.

The revised penalties came in light of the increase in cannabis smuggling out of Thailand. Belgian and Russian tourists were separately arrested at Phuket International Airport earlier this week, after allegedly attempting to smuggle cannabis out of the country.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who previously pushed for cannabis legalisation back when he was the Public Health Minister, announced on Wednesday that the Public Health Ministry has drafted a new bill to restrict cannabis to medical use.

He also stressed that cannabis is a controlled substance and that smugglers must face legal action, regardless of where they are arrested.