Immigration police raid Buriram hemp factory; 24 Vietnamese held
Immigration officers raided the rented CBD Siam Hemp factory in Buriram's Nong Ki district and arrested 24 Vietnamese nationals found working there on tourist visas. The raid came as the cabinet approved tighter cannabis rules, following British concerns over cannabis smuggled from Thailand.
Officers of Immigration Bureau Division 4 raided a rented factory in the Nong Ki district
of Buriram, the premises of CBD Siam Hemp Co. Ltd, where cannabis was being processed.[1]They found 24 Vietnamese nationals alongside six Thai workers and, after examining
identification documents, determined the Vietnamese were in Thailand on 60-day tourist
visas; all 24 were arrested for working illegally, including one man named as Kim Dong
Dang.[1]
The raid came a day after the cabinet approved new ministerial regulations on cannabis
production, processing and handling, and a day before ONCB secretary-general Panurat
Lakboonto briefed reporters on them.[1]The briefing followed a Monday meeting with
British ambassador Mark Gooding, who had raised British concerns about cannabis smuggled
from Thailand.[1]Under the incoming rules, unlicensed production, distribution or
handling of cannabis would carry up to five years in prison or a 500,000-baht fine, rising
to 15 years for supply to anyone under 18.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Only one account of the raid, a repost of the Thai Examiner's reporting, could be recovered.
The account dates the raid to the Tuesday before the ONCB's Wednesday briefing, after the ambassador's Monday 7 October 2024 meeting; 8 October 2024 is used here as the incident date.
No charges, court outcome or action against the factory's licence were reported.
Thailand's government said 12,279 cannabis shops nationwide hold licences and that inspectors will suspend the licences of those selling without prescriptions, advertising, allowing smoking on the premises or selling online, with revocation for a second offence. Sixty-six appeals against suspension or revocation orders were filed in 2026, including 31 from Bangkok and 15 from Phuket.
Administrative and public-health officers raided an unlicensed cannabis shop on Ratsada Road in Mueang Phuket on 4 November 2026, arresting the 41-year-old female owner. They seized 36 cannabis items, seven other items and 123,290 baht in cash and handed the case to Mueang Phuket police for prosecution.
Immigration police and narcotics officials raided a cannabis storage and packing warehouse in Sam Wa Tawan Tok, Bangkok, on 31 October 2026, arresting 14 foreign nationals. Two Vietnamese suspects faced drug and immigration charges, while 12 other Vietnamese and Myanmar nationals were charged under immigration and work laws.
Immigration police raided a rented three-storey house in Bang Khen after neighbours complained about the smell and found more than five tonnes of cannabis flowers. Five foreign nationals sorting the flowers were detained; the licence the operation relied on had been issued for another province.
