Mr Santhad Dejkerd is a local doctor and also the owner of Boon Morakot Osot formula, which contains cannabis oil, he is also a leader of civil society networks in Bangsaphan District, Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Mr Santhad sent a letter to the secretary of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, (ONCB), to ask permission for 8 villages in the Chang Raek subdistrict of Bang Saphan Noi, to be a special permitted area to plant and take Mitragyna Speciosa, (kratom), for research into the treatment of disease and solving addiction. The ONCB has granted permission for these 8 villages to possess 1,036 kratom trees, with QR codes installed and the next step is waiting for the removal of kratom from the prohibited drug list by statute.
After this then the people at Chang Raek can carry no more than 30 kratom leaves within the area, which can be used as an ingredient in combination with other herbal medicines for treating diseases. In this regard, the model area approach was studied at Baan Numphu sub-district, Na San district, Surat Thani province, this is an area where kratom is now legal by using the Community Statute to oversee the problem of kratom and other drugs. At this moment, tambon Chang Raek has established a community constitution, to create a participatory process to encourage the locality to be a center for preventing, and solving drug addiction problems adhering to specific guidelines.
There is a kratom control committee at sub-district and village level to monitor and evaluate compliance within the Community Statute As for the qualifications? The person who eats and possesses Kratom must be of Thai nationality, over 18 years, not be a pregnant woman, be domiciled in the local area with evidence, and be a registered kratom user. They must also consent to surveillance and attend an annual health examination, failure to attend will result in removal from the programme.
The permitted person must not allow others to consume and possess the kratom. In addition, after the survey, each household can have no more than 2 trees, if more than that, they must be cut and destroyed. Households that own the kratom must be registered and confirmed by the survey by keeping a QR code attached to each tree. In the event of loss of a tree households must notify the constitution immediately, propagation or replanting trees and trading of kratom leaves is strictly prohibited.
