American Tourist Hotboxes Popular Thailand Beach Area With Cannabis-Filled Fog Machine

Stacey Ritzen
·2 min read

Ever since Thailand became the first country in Asia to legalize cannabis last June, Bangla Walking Street, a popular nightlife hotspot in Patong Beach, Phuket, has attracted dozens of cannabis dispensaries. But that doesn't exactly mean that it's legal to blaze up while taking a stroll through the area.

Nor is it OK, apparently, to blast unsuspecting visitors with what is essentially a fog machine churning out weed smoke.

But that's precisely what happened in a bizarre incident earlier this month. In a Facebook post, Phuket Provincial Police say that an American tourist, Angkhan Vorac Chhieng, 55, walked through the crowded area at 2:30 a.m. on August 18, blasting passersby—some unsuspecting and some willing participants—with smoke from the machine.

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Chhieng's Instagram profile, which has since been set to private, indicated that he owns a weed-themed, California-based lifestyle brand called Kush Life. Its unclear if Chhieng or his business was affiliated, but the machine he was using is apparently called the Kush Cannon, which advertises on Instagram as a "hotbox machine" that can be booked to get "your birthday party or event hotboxed."

When tracked down by authorities after being identified by CCTV cameras around the area, Chhieng admitted that he had been making content to promote his business abroad.

Police informed Chhieng that "such actions cannot be done in public," and although he said that he did "not consider it as an inappropriate act," he apologized for damaging the tourism image of Phuket and even recorded a video clip to that extent. He then left Phuket the following day.

The post did not say whether Chhieng had been charged or fined for his actions. But according to a Washington Post article on Thailand's "booming weed business," smoking in cannabis in public is technically illegal, and punishable by a public nuisance fine of $780 or a potential three-month jail sentence.

However, Thailand’s Department of Health warned back in April that authorities would start enforcing the rules more strictly. In other words, leave your hotbox machines at home.