It's a sunny day in Bangkok. The wet season has finally made way to the dry and warm Thai winter. The city is calm, awaiting the herds of tourists who will arrive in December. It's even quiet at the normally buzzing Erawan shrine, in the centre of the city. This was the place where a bomb went off last August, killing more than twenty people. Since the attack, the shrine has become even more popular with tourists.

AMSTERDAM, November 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

- Convicted Dutchman files appeal against 103 years imprisonment  

American cannabis entrepreneurs risk ending up in a Thai prison cell, Dutch lawyer Sidney Smeets of convicted DutchmanJohan van Laarhoven warns. A Thai court sentenced the former coffee shop owner to 103 years imprisonment last week. Hewill appeal the verdict. 

VICE News traveled around the world speaking to people about what they think about the war on drugs.

Find out what people from Washington, DC to Bangkok, Thailand had to say about about the global approach to narcotics.

For years I’ve been an advocate of allowing Thai farmers to grow hemp. Hemp is the same plant family as pot.  Pot can get you high, hemp can’t because it doesn’t have more than a minute amount of THC.  I’m still as jazzed about allowing hemp to be grown in Thailand as I’ve ever been, but now I’ve added pot to the list.  I’ll start off articulating why pot should be allowed to be grown in Thailand, then will close with some mentions of hemp, along with some comparisons of drugs, including the world’s (and Thailand’s) most harmful group of drugs: alcoholic drinks.

Cannabis News Network presents you with a follow-up on the dramatic case of Johan van Laarhoven. This former Dutch coffeeshop entrepreneur and his wife are still being imprisoned in Thailand under horrific conditions.

The reason for their imprisonment is an investigation initiated by the Dutch government, who is accusing Van Laarhoven of money laundering. Van Laarhoven having retired to Thailand, the public prosecutor triggered the Thai government to investigate Johan van Laarhoven too, which led to his and his wife’s imprisonment for over thirteen months.

Kelly Slater has bought the film and television rights to "Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade".

The 11-time world surfing champion is expanding his business fields. Slater is ready to adapt Peter Maguire and Mike Ritter's book to the screens. The final result will be a documentary film and a TV series.

"This is a history they certainly don't teach you in school but an important and significant cultural phenomenon that occurred mostly undocumented. It took the professional historian and former smuggler 15 years to complete, and it is based on thousands of hours of interviews," explains Kelly Slater.

Eight Russian tourists were detained, and two of them charged with possessing and selling marijuana and bamboo pipes for smoking it online, on Koh Phangan in Surat Thani, police said on Wednesday.

A police officer shows a carved bamboo pipe used for smoking marijuana following a raid on two houses on Koh Phanan island on April 1 in which eight Russian tourists were detained, and  two of them charged with possessing and selling marijuana and bamboo pipes for smoking it on Facebook. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)

Pol Col Pachum Ruengthong, chief of Koh Phangan police, announced the arrest of the three men and five women following a raid on two rented houses on the island.

Vietnam and Thailand convened their ninth bilateral conference on drug prevention and control cooperation in Hanoi on March 24, resolving to employ stronger measures to work towards creating a drug-free ASEAN region.

The Vietnamese side was led by Lieutenant General Do Kim Tuyen, deputy head of the Ministry of Public Security’s Police General Department for Crime Prevention and Control, while Secretary General of the Thai Office of the Narcotics Control Board Permpong Chaovalit headed the Thai delegation.

PATTAYA: — Pattaya Police have shut-down an International Marijuana Mail-Order business allegedly run by 3 Russians.

On Monday Morning at Chonburi Police Headquarters, Police Major General Nittipong, the Provincial Police Commander held a press conference and confirmed the arrest of 3 Russians and 2 Thai females, in connection with the drug distribution network.

Police were first alerted to a problem when the Thai Postal Service intercepted a number of packages destined for Russia, at the Airport in Bangkok. The parcels originated from Pattaya and were packed full of Marijuana, a class 5 drug in Thailand.