Thailand Serves Food with Cannabis to Happy Customers
2021-01-23
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1"Giggling bread" and "joyfully dancing salad" are not the usual meals served in Thailand.
2But one eatery is hoping its foods made with parts of the cannabis plant can interest foreign visitors.
3The restaurant at a hospital in Prachin Buri province started serving the meals this month.
4Thailand recently took cannabis off its list of narcotic drugs.
5The government then permitted some businesses to grow the plant.
6Pakakrong Kwankao is the project leader at the hospital.
7She told the Reuters news service, "Cannabis leaves, when put in the food or even a small amount ... it will help the patient to recover faster."
8She added, "The cannabis leaf can improve appetite and make people sleep well, and also be in a good mood."
9The hospital is known as being the first in Thailand to study marijuana and its ability to ease pain and extreme tiredness.
10Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to legalize cannabis for medical use in 2017.
11Since then, many medical marijuana centers have opened across the country.
12The restaurant's offerings include a happy pork soup and deep-fried bread topped with pork and a marijuana leaf.
13Another is a mix of crispy cannabis leaves served with pork and vegetables.
14"I've never taken cannabis before, it feels weird but it's delicious," said Ketsirin Boonsiri, one person who ate at the restaurant.
15Another, Nattanon Naranan, said the taste of the cannabis leaves was similar to some other vegetables.
16But, she said the after-effects of eating cannabis were very different.
17Thai deputy education minister Kanokwan Vilawan said the next step was to offer new versions of famous Thai dishes to appeal to people across the world.
18"We plan to add more (cannabis) to Thai dishes that are already well known, such as green curry soup, to boost the popularity of these dishes even more," Kanokwan said.
19I'm Jonathan Evans.
1"Giggling bread" and "joyfully dancing salad" are not the usual meals served in Thailand. But one eatery is hoping its foods made with parts of the cannabis plant can interest foreign visitors. 2The restaurant at a hospital in Prachin Buri province started serving the meals this month. Thailand recently took cannabis off its list of narcotic drugs. The government then permitted some businesses to grow the plant. 3Pakakrong Kwankao is the project leader at the hospital. She told the Reuters news service, "Cannabis leaves, when put in the food or even a small amount ... it will help the patient to recover faster." 4She added, "The cannabis leaf can improve appetite and make people sleep well, and also be in a good mood." 5The hospital is known as being the first in Thailand to study marijuana and its ability to ease pain and extreme tiredness. 6Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country to legalize cannabis for medical use in 2017. Since then, many medical marijuana centers have opened across the country. 7The restaurant's offerings include a happy pork soup and deep-fried bread topped with pork and a marijuana leaf. Another is a mix of crispy cannabis leaves served with pork and vegetables. 8"I've never taken cannabis before, it feels weird but it's delicious," said Ketsirin Boonsiri, one person who ate at the restaurant. 9Another, Nattanon Naranan, said the taste of the cannabis leaves was similar to some other vegetables. But, she said the after-effects of eating cannabis were very different. 10Thai deputy education minister Kanokwan Vilawan said the next step was to offer new versions of famous Thai dishes to appeal to people across the world. 11"We plan to add more (cannabis) to Thai dishes that are already well known, such as green curry soup, to boost the popularity of these dishes even more," Kanokwan said. 12I'm Jonathan Evans. 13Juarawee Kittisilpa reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 14________________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16appetite - n. a physical desire for food 17delicious - adj. very pleasant to taste 18giggling - v. laughing in a nervous or childlike way 19narcotic - n. a drug such as cocaine, heroin, or marijuana that affects the brain and that is usually dangerous and illegal 20mood - n. an emotional state of mind or feeling 21weird - adj. unusual or strange