Is this just ChatGPT with a wrapper?

No. A generic chatbot answers from training data and happily invents a visa rule. Thaissistant checks a knowledge base we maintain before it speaks, shows you which entries grounded the answer, and hands anything live to the Tour Tiger team. Anyone can rent the model we use. Nobody can rent the corpus — or a licensed operator in Maenam who picks up the booking.

How is the information verified?

Every law-and-life entry is researched from a strict source ladder: the Royal Gazette and the statutes first, then the government bodies that enforce them, then official translations — reputable secondary sources only ever as labelled support, and forums never. Each entry names its legal basis, links its sources, and carries the date we last verified the facts. Anything that moves faster than we can verify — office-level fees, officer discretion — is marked 'verify live' instead of stated as fact. The methodology page spells out the whole discipline.

Is this legal advice?

No — and we're careful about the difference. Thaissistant explains what the law says and how processes work in general, with citations you can check. It doesn't advise on your specific case, predict outcomes, or replace a lawyer. For a decision that matters, the entry's sources tell you exactly which authority to confirm with.

Can it actually book things?

Today it takes your request and hands it to a real person at Tour Tiger — often Alexander himself, on WhatsApp or the phone — who checks availability and confirms with you directly. Payments, PromptPay, and calendar booking are planned for Phase 3. The principle holds throughout: automate the conversation, not the transaction, until we can do the transaction properly.

Can it read a Thai document for me?

Yes — paste the text of a letter, a form, a lease, or a fine, and it translates and explains what it means in plain words. Two honest caveats: the translation is unofficial (only the Thai text has legal force), and if the document is high-stakes, it will tell you to confirm with the authority or a professional rather than pretending a chat is enough.

Alexander Wich — founder, and the person who answers the WhatsApp. He built Thaissistant himself, with Claude Code, on top of the business he already runs: Tour Tiger (Thailand) Co., Ltd., TAT Licence 44/00524, a registered Thai tour operator in Maenam, Koh Samui. When the assistant hands you to a human, that human is usually Alexander or someone on his team. Feel free to test that.

What does it cost to use?

For you, asking Thaissistant is free — and so is the knowledge library. For us, a conversation runs about $0.01, the whole 6-month validation budget is under $2,000, and monthly running cost sits at $50-225. Breakeven is one or two extra bookings a month.

Why did this start on Koh Samui?

Because we wanted to be genuinely excellent somewhere before being vaguely useful everywhere. Samui gave us a licensed operator, real products, and real customers asking real questions — the loop that proved the engine. The life-and-law library is that same engine pointed at the questions every foreigner in Thailand has, not just the ones on holiday.

What happens to my data and my question?

If it's a genuine booking or service request, it becomes a lead the Tour Tiger team follows up on — that's the point. We're not in the business of reselling your inbox. Anything specific, write to hello@thaissistant.com.

Cannabis: medical-only since June 2025 (the recreational window has closed)

Facts verified · 2026-07-11

This is the single most out-of-date topic in every Thailand forum. Cannabis was removed from the narcotics list in June 2022, and for three years a large recreational dispensary market operated in a legal grey zone. That era has ended. On 25 June 2025 the Ministry of Public Health reclassified cannabis flower as a "controlled herb" under the Protection and Promotion of Thai Traditional Medicine Knowledge Act B.E. 2542 (1999), and buying cannabis flower now legally requires a medical prescription (form PT 33) issued by a licensed Thai practitioner. It is medical use, not recreational, that the law now permits.

In practice: dispensaries that remain open are supposed to sell only to customers with a prescription and to have a certified practitioner on site; of roughly 18,000 shops, thousands have closed since the rule changed. Smoking cannabis in public can still be penalised as a public nuisance. CBD and hemp products below 0.2% THC remain legal without a prescription. Importing or exporting cannabis without a licence is a serious offence. For a visitor the safe reading is simple: treat cannabis as a regulated medicine, not a tourist product, and do not assume a shop being open means what it sells you is legal for you to buy or carry.

Legal basis

Protection and Promotion of Thai Traditional Medicine Knowledge Act B.E. 2542 (1999); Ministry of Public Health notification re-listing cannabis flower as a controlled herb (25 June 2025); Ministerial Regulation on controlled-herb commercial permits B.E. 2569 (2026)

⚠ Verify live

The cannabis framework is actively being rebuilt — a 30 April 2026 ministerial regulation added a commercial licensing layer, and a full Cannabis Act is still pending. Rules on what may be sold, to whom, and where you may consume are changing month to month; verify the current position before relying on it.

cannabisweedmarijuanaprescriptionpt33cbd

General information, not legal advice. Laws and practice change; for a decision that matters, confirm with the authority named in the sources or a licensed professional.