Footage shows the Vice Prime Minister of Thailand planting the country's first legal cannabis plants.

Vice PM Anutin Chanvirakul is overseeing the organic cannabis planting project in at the Maejo University in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, which opened last Saturday (21/09) afternoon.

The project - which will grow more than 12,000 plants for medical purposes - makes Thailand the first country in the Asean region to develop its own breed of medical cannabis.

Deputy leader Anutin, whose recent election manifesto was to legalise the cannabis, explained how the idea was developed.

He said: "The scheme has been developed by the Maejo University together with pharmaceutical organisations, the Department of Medical Services and ministry of public health.

"We gathered the prominent staff from the four units and studied in depth about both cannabis and hemp, while aiming to apply the knowledge to medical fields.

"We have started the project with 12,000 "Issara01" cannabis seeds which contain the substances that are best for medicine. Growing them under the high standard facility provided by the university will hopefully be a success.''

More than 2.5 tonnes of cannabis is expected to be collected from the first harvest withinthe next five months.

Anutin added: ''We aim to perfect a technique where a household can grow six cannabis plants in their yard and use them safely for medical purpose.

''Maejo’s breed is strong and of high quality that contains both cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol, two natural compounds that have medical benefits in the preferred quantity.''