BANGKOK, THAILAND – Media OutReach – 9 May 2023 – As Thailand is now the first country in ASEAN to liberalize hemp and cannabis for medical use, Thai Leaf Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has unveiled its plan to develop products with CBD extract, to address the needs of the medical and healthcare market in Thailand and ASEAN.
From recent developments in the Thai market, it is understandable for consumers and the general public to have controversial issues and resistance to this important breakthrough, as they are still confused between hemp and marijuana – the two varieties within the Cannabis family. Christopher Utz, Director of Product Development at Thai Leaf explained that the clear difference is that hemp contains high levels of CBD but low levels of THC, making it safe, unlike marijuana, which has THC levels in excess of 0.2%, making it narcotic, or making one “high”. Generally speaking, THC acts on the nervous system to give an intoxicating effect, while CBD has no side effects, but has numerous therapeutic and medical benefits, as well as bringing the body back to its “neutral strange”. Simply put, hemp is known for health as opposed to marijuana which is used for recreational purposes.
Not generally known, hemp is one of the most useful plants on Earth. Among thousand other uses, it can be used to make materials, ropes, textiles, and paper, it can be used as fuel and can also be consumed. More recently, it has been developed for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical use.
Mr. Utz further emphasized the science behind the benefits of CBD discovered merely 30 years ago. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a biological regulating system comprised of molecules called endocannabinoids naturally produced by the human body, -i.e. to help maintain homeostasis or, in other words, “balancing” your body, easing pain, sleep, mood, energy, inflammation and appetite. Cannabinoids such as CBD are found naturally within the cannabis plant and can mimic the functions of endocannabinoids and help to address any imbalance within the body.
Mr. Utz looks forward to the introduction of Thai Leaf’s outstanding hemp-infused nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products in 2023. All Thai Leaf products have a tremendous amount of experience and research behind them and they will have a noticeable health impact for its consumers.
Robert Traill, President of Thai Leaf announced that Thai Leaf has a 3-year research collaboration with world’s leading Cornell University, in the United States to develop a new tropical hemp strain for Thailand. The new strain would be able to grow with shorter day-lengths, be resistant to mold and have high CBD potency with negligible THC.
With the founders’ extensive background and experience in both the agricultural and pharmaceutical industry, Thai Leaf’s end-game is in pharmaceutical CBD products. This background is what distinguishes Thai leaf from other producers. It has the experience of the highest production standards and combines it with expertise and know-how from the US and Canada.
Mr. Traill is extremely positive about the growth of the industry in Thailand. The Thai CBD market is currently worth THB 7 billion, and forecasted to grow to THB 50 billion within the next three years. Thailand is the first country in the region to legalize hemp-derived CBD, and is in a unique and strong position to be a leader in the ASEAN region of 650 million potential consumers.
Currently, due to the ambiguous stage of the laws, there may be unstandardized products that do not possess the claimed qualities and may contain undesirable compounds. Thai Leaf calls for a benchmark of standardization and traceability, which all producers need to adhere to, so that the consumer is guaranteed with the highest quality of products.
The extraction and distillation of hemp biomass to produce high quality cannabinoids and CBD is an important step in providing fine quality products for the CBD industry. “There are simply no shortcuts to having good equipment and systems in place”. Thai Leaf’s final focus is pharmaceutical (medical) CBD. Therefore, it is essential that its factory is built to US GMP and European PIC/s standard (the highest standard for the medical industry) utilizing world-leading extraction, distillation and crystallization equipment from the US and Germany. Having Master Growers from the US and importing standard operation systems, also allows Thai Leaf to leverage decades of experience and know-how within its products.
To summarize, with the right regulations in place, standards will automatically rise for all manufacturers, making it possible for Thailand to become a hub and regional leader for Hemp-derived raw materials, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products, with high hopes that hemp becomes an economic crop for the Kingdom of Thailand.
Find out more at the website https://thaileaf.com/. Media outlets requiring more information can make contact by e-mail on [email protected]
Hashtag: #ThaiLeaf #ThaiLeafBiotechnology #ThaiLeafBiotechnologyThailand #Hemp #Thailand
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Thai Leaf Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Thai Leaf is the first generation company to be licensed in Thailand for hemp derived CBD. We are vertically integrated from seed to pharmaceutical. The most valuable asset is our talented team of US experts who bring to Thailand their know-how and experience in the areas of seeds and strains, cultivation, and production.
