Key points
- The inaugural Cannabis Cup Thailand comes after the country removed cannabis from its list of banned narcotics.
- The event took place at a small rooftop cannabis cafe in Bangkok.
- The crowd voted for fastest joint roller, most creative joint and best Thai cannabis variety.
Stoners might have a reputation for moving at a glacial pace, but it was full steam ahead at the inaugural Cannabis Cup Thailand competition on Saturday.
Thailand , with the law change allowing households to grow up to six cannabis pot plants at home. Sales are supposed to be for medical use, but with no requirement for consumers to provide evidence, dispensaries and stalls have sprung up.
At a small rooftop cannabis cafe in Bangkok, revellers gathered to compete for three Cup prizes — fastest joint roller, most creative joint and best Thai cannabis variety — judged by the crowd who were all handed five joints on arrival, voting for their favourite throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
"It's just super fun," said 31-year-old organiser Matita 'Mameaw' Promjai.
Revellers gathered to compete for three Cup prizes: fastest joint roller, most creative joint, and best Thai cannabis variety — judged by the crowd. Source: Getty, AFP / Jack Taylor
"They are very nervous," Mameaw said. "Everyone's hands shake."
Each competitor would roll a small and large joint as quickly as they physically could, closely watched by a knowledgeable — if increasingly relaxed — crowd.
"I'm just trying my best," said competitor Klaus, who gave only his first name, as he shambled up to the table to take his turn with a giant countdown clock behind him.
"THREE-TWO-ONE, GO!" shouted the MC as the 23-year-old scrambled to get his two joints done, banging the bell and stopping the clock on 1 minute and 44 seconds.
"It's a really great experience, it's really fun," he said. "There's some fierce competition."
In the back, self-professed "big time" smoker Nicky West, 52, was watching with a lazy smile.
"Really good, well-crafted," he said, gesturing with an intricately-tattooed hand towards the latest competitor's efforts.
"You're really good, then you get up on that stage with all those people watching you and against the clock," West said.
"I take my hat off to them," he added.
As the afternoon turned to evening, and with the winner lost in a cloud of increasingly dense smoke, the party looked set to roll late into the night.
The government's hasty roll-out lifting cannabis restrictions has meant piecemeal regulatory updates have had to be rushed through, such as clarifying that it cannot be sold to children or near temples.
New legislation that would regulate legal gray areas is also expected to be passed in the coming months.
