From the land of football and Formula 1 comes a new pro-cannabis festival featuring everything from music and art installations to educational workshops and vendors.
Set to run three days at the F1 speedway in Buriram, “Pan Ram” (“Buriram Species,” sort of) expects to draw more than 20,000 daily attendees to celebrate cannabis culture at the dawn of the legalization age.
Behind the event is former political powerbroker Newin Chidchob, the man revered locally for delivering a world-class football stadium and race circuit to what had been a neglected and impoverished rural province. Several years into retirement from politics, 60-year-old Newin, now president of Buriram United FC, is throwing the weed party along with several pro-marijuana advocates. Not coincidentally, promotion of cannabis as a cash crop is one of the central policies of the party he founded, Bhumjaithai.
Heading the project is Chidchanok “Nan” Chidchob – Newin’s daughter – who says the three-day festival will welcome cannabis activists to lead talks and Rangsit University professors to host educational workshops on medical marijuana.
Nan said Tuesday that the event’s goal is to push for marijuana liberation and give everyone a “full-immersive experience” that covers all of marijuana’s benefits – economic, medical and recreational.
Live music acts will take three stages alongside art installations, food stalls and handcraft vendors popping up in the open-air venue.
Pan Ram will run April 19-21 at the Chang International Circuit. The Formula 1 track is located in Buriram city, about 400 kilometers from Bangkok.
Tickets are 420 baht per day, and 1,000 baht for all three days. More details will be announced at a later date.
Those bringing valid medical certificates for one of the conditions that can now be legally treated with cannabis can enter free of charge.
Pan Ram is Thailand’s second pro-cannabis festival.
In Bangkok, advocacy group Highland is hosting its fifth such event on the same day. The 5th Thailand 420 will take place on April 20 at Runway 3119, a night market near Suvarnabhumi International Airport in the capital’s Lat Krabang district.
As marijuana decriminalization spreads worldwide, April 20 or Weed Day has become celebrated globally with events embracing cannabis culture.
