BAN LAO RUENG does not resemble a den of iniquity. A two-hour drive from Bangkok, the Thai capital, the restaurant caters to families and old folk. Gauzy curtains frame the windows and doilies decorate bags of cookies on sale at the counter. The menu features such classics as tom yum soup and khanom pang na moo (crispy pork toast). Yet a closer look reveals the presence of an illicit ingredient: cannabis.
Illicit, that is, until recently. For decades Thailand, like many other Asian countries, harshly punished anyone caught with the demon weed. But the government has turned over a new leaf. In 2019 the country became the first in Asia to legalise pot for medical purposes. A year later the government announced that parts of the plant containing less than 0.2% THC, the…
