Kratom is legal in Thailand: it was taken off the narcotics list in August 2021, and since 27 August 2022 the Kratom Plant Act has controlled how it is sold. Sale to anyone under 18 or to pregnant or breastfeeding women is banned, mixing it with drugs or other listed substances is an offense, and carrying it abroad can be a serious drug crime in the country you fly to.
Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a tree native to Southeast Asia. Its leaves contain mitragynine and related compounds that act on the brain, which is why some countries control them as drugs. In Thailand itself, kratom was a Category 5 narcotic until 2021.
This page explains what Thai law now allows and forbids, and the risks around it. It does not give advice on using kratom, and it is not legal advice. Cannabis follows a completely different set of rules, covered in our guide to cannabis laws in Thailand.
Kratom and Thai law (checked October 2026)
- Removed from the narcotics list
- Tuesday 24 August 2021
- Kratom Plant Act B.E. 2565 in force
- Saturday 27 August 2022
- No sale to
- Under-18s, pregnant and breastfeeding women; fine up to 30,000 baht
- Mixing with narcotics or listed substances
- Banned; fine up to 50,000 baht
- Import or export
- Licence needed, except a personal amount set by ministerial regulation
- Unlicensed import or export
- Up to 1 year in prison and/or 100,000 baht
- Singapore
- Mitragynine is a Class A controlled drug
Two laws, two dates
Many websites say kratom "became legal on 24 August 2022". That mixes up two separate steps, a year apart.
- Delisting, 24 August 2021. The Narcotics Act (No. 8) of 2021, published in the Royal Gazette on 26 May 2021, removed kratom from Category 5 of the narcotics list with effect from Tuesday 24 August 2021. From that day, growing, possessing and consuming the leaves stopped being a narcotics offense.
- Regulation, 27 August 2022. The Kratom Plant Act B.E. 2565 (2022) was published in the Royal Gazette on Friday 26 August 2022 and took effect the next day. It set the rules for selling, advertising, importing and exporting kratom.
So kratom is legal, but it is not unregulated. The 2022 Act is the law that shops, sellers and visitors deal with today.
Who may not be sold kratom, and where it cannot be sold
Under the 2022 Act, "selling" has a wide meaning: it includes dispensing, distributing, exchanging and simply giving kratom to someone. The Act bans selling kratom leaves, or food containing them, to:
- anyone under 18;
- pregnant women;
- breastfeeding women.
Sellers must put up a notice saying so, and the rule covers online points of sale too. Breaking either rule carries a fine of up to 30,000 baht. Ministers may add further groups to the list. The only exceptions are treatment supervised by a doctor, dentist or Thai traditional medicine practitioner, and research by named public bodies.
Kratom leaves also may not be sold in schools and other educational institutions, dormitories, parks, zoos or amusement parks, or from vending machines. The fine is up to 50,000 baht, doubled to 100,000 baht if the buyer is in one of the protected groups.
Giving kratom to a 17-year-old counts as selling it. The Act's definition of sale includes handing it over for free, so a traveler sharing kratom with a teenager in the group can break the law without any money changing hands.
The banned mixtures
Consuming kratom is legal. Consuming it mixed with narcotics, psychotropic substances, dangerous substances or anything else the Ministry of Justice lists is not, and the fine is up to 50,000 baht.
The rule was written with a known problem in mind. In Thailand, kratom boiled and mixed with cough syrup and a soft drink is known as "4x100". The Act does not name the drink, but codeine cough syrup is a controlled narcotic, so a mixture containing it falls within the ban.
Two further offenses target people who spread such mixtures:
- Advertising or promoting a kratom mixture of this kind, in any channel including online: up to 2 years in prison and/or 200,000 baht.
- Persuading, deceiving or forcing someone to consume one: up to 1 year and/or 100,000 baht, doubled if the victim is under 18, pregnant or breastfeeding.
For anyone who takes prescription medicine, the mixture rule is a reminder that kratom and medicines are a legal issue as well as a medical one. Our page on taking prescription medicine to Thailand explains how Thailand classifies common medicines.
Carrying kratom in or out of Thailand
Importing or exporting kratom leaves needs a licence from the secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board. Licences are only for Thai nationals over 20 living in Thailand, Thai companies, community enterprises and government agencies, so a tourist cannot get one.
The Act makes one exception: a person may carry kratom leaves in or out of Thailand for their own consumption or treatment, up to an amount set by ministerial regulation. We could not find that regulation or the amount it allows (as of October 2026). Above the allowance, the trip counts as unlicensed import or export, with up to one year in prison and/or a 100,000-baht fine.
In practice that means there is no published figure you can rely on. Our guide to Thai customs allowances covers what you can bring in, and the Thai Customs hotline is 1164 if you need an answer from the source.
Why kratom from Thailand should not go home with you
Thai law is only half of the journey. Kratom is controlled, sometimes very strictly, in other countries, including some on the most common routes out of Thailand.
- Singapore: the Central Narcotics Bureau lists mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine as Class A controlled drugs. Possession can mean up to 10 years in prison or a 20,000-dollar fine, or both, and illegal import carries a minimum of 5 years and 5 strokes of the cane. In January 2022 checkpoint officers at Woodlands seized 5.8 kg of kratom leaves from a lorry arriving from Malaysia and five men were arrested.
- United States: the Food and Drug Administration says kratom cannot be lawfully sold as a dietary supplement or added to food, and it warns against using kratom for medical treatment.
Those are the two positions we verified on official pages. Rules elsewhere range from no control to a full ban, and they change. Check your own country's drug and customs authority before you travel, and check the rules of any country where you change planes too. Our guides to what you cannot take home from Thailand and flights from Singapore, Malaysia and China cover the return leg in more detail.
Kratom tea and kratom powder are still kratom at a border. Singapore's narcotics bureau names fresh leaves, dried leaves and powdered extract as the forms it sees, so a drink mix or capsule from a Thai shop gives no protection.
What the health authorities warn about
Legal in Thailand does not mean tested or safe. The US FDA notes that no kratom-based medicine is approved in the United States. Singapore's narcotics bureau lists reported effects including nausea, seizures, hallucinations and loss of appetite, and withdrawal symptoms such as aggression and aching muscles. Products sold in tourist areas give no reliable information about strength or what else they contain.
If someone becomes unwell after taking kratom, especially in a mixture, call an ambulance on 1669 and tell the medics what was taken. Our page on emergency numbers in Thailand lists the others, and our guide to hospitals in Thailand explains private and public care. For the wider picture of which laws catch visitors out, see whether Thailand is safe to visit.
Frequently asked questions
Is kratom legal in Thailand in 2026?
Yes. Kratom was removed from the narcotics list on 24 August 2021, and the Kratom Plant Act has regulated its sale since 27 August 2022. It may not be sold to people under 18 or to pregnant or breastfeeding women, and mixing it with narcotics or listed substances is an offense (as of October 2026).
When did kratom become legal in Thailand?
In two steps. Kratom left the Category 5 narcotics list on Tuesday 24 August 2021. The Kratom Plant Act, which sets the rules for sale, advertising and import and export, took effect on Saturday 27 August 2022. The often quoted "24 August 2022" mixes the two.
Can I take kratom out of Thailand?
Thai law allows a personal amount set by ministerial regulation, but we could not find the figure. The bigger risk is your destination: Singapore treats mitragynine as a Class A controlled drug with prison and caning for illegal import. Check the law of every country on your route first.
What is the penalty for selling kratom to a minor in Thailand?
A fine of up to 30,000 baht for selling to anyone under 18, or to a pregnant or breastfeeding woman. Selling in a banned place, such as a school, park or vending machine, carries up to 50,000 baht, doubled if the buyer is a minor.
Sources
- Tilleke & Gibbins – Thailand's new legal framework for kratom (2022) (checked October 2026)
- Tilleke & Gibbins – Thailand decriminalizes kratom in amended Narcotics Act (2021) (checked October 2026)
- Central Narcotics Bureau Singapore – Kratom (checked October 2026)
- Central Narcotics Bureau Singapore – Close to 6kg of kratom leaves seized at Woodlands Checkpoint (5 January 2022) (checked October 2026)
- US Food and Drug Administration – FDA and kratom (checked October 2026)