Thank you @RYOJI to publish this 
3 Likes
And here the integral version of the interview:
Interview Questions for Prempavee
Question 1
About Prempavee
"You are currently based in Nakhon Phanom, where you work in agriculture and cannabis cultivation.
Why did you choose to work in Nakhon Phanom?
Please tell me what makes this place important to you, such as its climate, soil, local farming culture, or your connection with the local community."
Answer： "My village Phon Bok, from Phon Sawan district in Nakhon Phanom province is where my family has had this farm for generations. Before prohibitions this area was very famous as one of the main producers of the Thai Stick during the 60’s and the 70’s. Ganja from my area was exported in terms of several tons to every part of the world like the USA, Mexico, Europe and so many other places. I didn’t know this before because, since I’m born, ganja was illegal and heavily repressed so my farm was more about rice, fruits and vegetables.
To make a living out of our farm was very hard. Rice gives you food stability but very little money so, like most of the local people, I had to travel to the city to find a job and send money home. I was on a touristic
place working in one restaurant when my father died and I had to return for the funeral. After the funeral I was planning to rent my land and go back to my work when they announced the liberalization of the ganja on television.
At the beginning I didn't believe them, but when they freed all cannabis prisoners from the jail and the Health Minister began to give 1 million free ganja plants to everybody I thought that it was worth trying to check about this crop opportunity at my farm. So I did some research and I discovered that my farm is at the center of one of the most famous areas
in the world for ganja production.
My area counts thousands of ganja farmers that have been ganja farmers for generations. Finally now they restored fields, groups and communities."
Question 2
"I understand that you were originally involved mainly in rice farming. What made you start growing cannabis, and what kind of potential did
you see in cannabis at that time?"
Answer：When I learned about the strategic geographical position my farm have regarding this specific crop production I called the old job to quit. I was going to follow my true life dream: take care of my land and my farm near my mother, my son and sisters. So for me the opportunity that I saw was about being able to self-sustain me and my family from the work at my own farm."
Question 3
"What is “good cannabis”? What does “good cannabis” mean to you?
Among things such as THC, terpenes, aroma, flavor, effects, appearance, and the way it is grown, what do you consider most important?"
Answer：Good Cannabis for me is Outdoor Organic. Of course also well dried and cured (preserved).
THC, terpenes, aroma, effects, appearance.. all these things are important only relatively to the need and the taste of the final consumer.
A user may need high THC but another may need low levels or even zero. Same for the aroma, some users need or like a flavour, another like strong terps, another no terps.
We cannot generally say that some characteristics are better than others. What matters is that the flowers are pure and not contaminated.
Question 4
"Today, when consumers choose cannabis buds at dispensaries, THC levels, terpene profiles, appearance, and aroma are often used as
indicators of quality. What do you think about these ways of judging cannabis?
Does having high THC or a rich terpene profile necessarily mean that the cannabis is “good”?"
Answer：As I mentioned before, is relative. The best ganja is the one that better fits the needs and goals of the final consumer. In my opinion the best dispensaries are the farms, to buy directly there
because when you go you can see how they do. Dispensaries from the cities should focus more to offer traceable local products, possibly organic certified or at least from organic minded agriculture that they personally visited and inspected.
Also they should focus more to valorize local genetics that are unique for their zones and they add value because of their unicity instead of the
hyped mainstream varieties that are the same everywhere.
Question 5
"Why grow outdoors? I understand that Prempavee Farm places importance on outdoor cultivation and soil. Why did you choose this approach to growing cannabis?"
Answer：Because is the most ethical, safe and efficient method. Ganja is a plant that grows almost alone, very easily. They also call it “weed” for a reason.
Because of prohibitions many growers have begun to grow indoors because it is easier to hide as the indoor grow in terms of sqm / gr is more high yielding. But if you do not need to hide, the outdoors are radically more convenient in terms of costs, especially organic: the most cheap, the most easy, the most tasty.
Question 6
"Indoor cultivation allows growers to carefully control light, temperature, humidity, and other conditions.
What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of indoor cultivation compared with outdoor cultivation? If you believe they produce differences in aroma, flavor, effects, or other
characteristics of the final flower, please explain those differences."
Answer：Artificial light causes a different structural
development of the buds. They become more solid and compact. During the 70’s indoor ganja existed already but was not popular and not easy
to sell as smokers were used to recognizing the outdoors as the “good ganja” . During prohibitions many had to switch to indoors to become more efficient under the new circumstances. So for almost 50 years we had indoors as the main product on the market and the consumers have become now more used to the indoors and they do not recognize the
sun grow anymore. But if ganja is liberalized and not regulated after some time indoors will again become the smallest portion of the market just because Outdoors are unbeatable in terms of production costs and in terms of quality too. It is true that the learning curve for outdoors is longer compared to indoors but once mastered they are superior in every aspect for the simple reason that the sunlight spectrum is not fully replicable indoors and more
than that the sun is shining for free.
Question 7
"In your view, how much should humans control the environment in which cannabis grows?
How do you decide what should be controlled by the grower and what should be left to the plant and the natural environment?"
Answer：I don't believe there is one way better than another in absolute. All depends and is relative to circumstances. Resources, needs and goals. If you have the possibility and the knowledge to grow
outdoor organic, that is the most cost efficient method.
Question 8
About Thai landrace cannabis
"What does “Thai landrace” mean to you?
Why do you believe Thai landrace cannabis should be preserved?
If these local genetics were lost, what do you think Thailand would lose?"
Answer：To me a Thai Ganja Landrace is the result of the work of local traditional farmers that over decades or even centuries have been growing and sharing amongst their groups their own seeds without relevant external contamination. My area is one of the last in the world where Landraces still exist and are preserved but unless the human
world changes the paradigma of life they will be extinct very soon. To preserve them is indispensable to restore and maintain circular economies, accessibility to the market, infrastructure and resources to the smallest of the farmers. Without traditional farmers there are no Landraces.
As we apparently lost the wild varieties already, if we lose now also the Landraces there is a chance that we will lose the very source of life and not only cannabis at one point no far in the future will be extinct but the
whole life on the planet.
Question 9
" Today, many foreign genetics and hybrids made from foreign strains are widely grown in Thailand.
How do you view this change?
What do you think cannabis breeding has improved, and what might be lost because of it?"
Answer：Is okay to grow varieties from other areas sometimes, is very interesting. But if these varieties become the predominant choice that becomes a problem. Local varieties need to be always valorised and protected.
Indoors (including greenhouses) growers may think these modern varieties are better because they are more predictable and stable and easy to grow. But if the genetic pool of cannabis will become totally bottle necked that is not good.
As an Outdoor Grower I see those modern breed genetics perfect for beginners or very small home growers with one or two plants in a grow room. But if you aim to become a larger scale grower you need to grow local varieties locally adapted and learn about the planet where we live and how it works.
Genetics that have been highly selected lose diversity of the gene pool, they bottleneck. This means that you reach a point where even if you
cross some different cultivars they do not improve the genetic pool diversity anymore and they keep reducing that at every step.
You can understand that it is not smart to make children with your family blood line for humans the same in the long term as for plants. Life is about diversity, if you reduce diversity, even if at some stages it may look exciting or convenient, you are walking towards death and it is the end.
Question 10
"Imagine a cannabis variety that has relatively low THC, is not visually impressive, and produces a low yield, but has been grown in one area of Thailand for many generations.
Would you still consider that “good cannabis”?
Why or why not?"
Answer：High THC is not what makes good or not good ganja and aesthetic unless is related to practical reasons is a false parameter induced by education. So it is important to learn how to recognize the correct and most useful sources and study and apply what we study to have our own direct experiences. Only after that can we share it with others.
Question 11
Preservation and commercialization
"Prempavee Farm works to preserve Thai landrace genetics while also selling cannabis and seeds.
How are “preserving” and “selling” connected in your view?"
Answer：For how is organized our society we need to make an income to be able to survive. If we don’t survive there is nothing we can preserve.
Question 12
"When Thai landrace seeds are distributed overseas, they may be grown in many countries and crossed with other genetics.
Do you see this as a way of preserving Thai landrace cannabis?
Or does it also mean that the original genetics may gradually become something new?
How do you think about this issue?"
Answer：That is a way to preserve a Landrace because when you buy them you are directly supporting a true framer that is preserving that genetics. But when you grow them in another place the next generations of those seeds are not anymore a landrace. Some other preservationists buy many seeds and freeze them in case a genetic pool disappears; they are able to bring them back to the original areas. That is not a perfect system but is the best we can do for emergency.
Question 13
"If the cannabis that the market wants is different from the cannabis that you personally want to preserve or grow, how do you decide what to do?
How do you balance earning an income as a farmer with the values and principles that are important to you?"
Answer：For example at my farm I keep different fields that I grow on different moments of the year for make the seeds or flowers.
Also for the pure original landraces I rely on the work of some farmers older than me that have the experience and they grow some varieties
that are original.
Before I was just going there and buying some seeds from them but with time we are gaining the strength to build more structured collaborations.
We are even discussing the creation of a foundation to guarantee the future stability of this. About the flowers from other genetics I do grow them but only the females make flowers. I never allow males from hybrids to mature.
Question 14
About the 1st Ganja Cup
"Why did you decide to create the “1st Ganja Cup” instead of simply participating in existing Cannabis Cups?
What did you feel was missing or problematic in cannabis competitions at that time?"
Answer：The truth: I created the 1st Ganja Cup because they rejected my participation to an important competition as I had onlyoutdoor flowers and they was allowing only entries from indoors growers.
We are in Thailand, the land of the Sun. Why only indoors? Because of that I have begun to make a new event called “Prempavee 1st Ganja Cup reserved for Outdoors Organic” .
We made one event online just to try and was very successful, so we started to make one every month. Later we grouped the single events under the name of Tournaments and we created a 2 years long editions Championship with a final where all the champions from the tournaments were challenging. That time we also abbreviated the name to include an Indoor Organic minded Category and added a specific category for Landraces from Traditional Farmers.
Question 15
"What kind of cannabis does the 1st Ganja Cup consider to be “good cannabis”?
When judging cannabis, what do you place the most importance on:
THC, aroma, flavor, effects, appearance, cultivation methods, or something else?
Also, why is it important for the competition to give attention to outdoor cultivation, organic growing, and small-scale growers?"
Answer：The winners of the 1st Ganja Cup are usually the growers who present the flowers with the best Quality/Price ratio. Judges have to evaluate them by their own taste. We select judges from
different backgrounds and levels of experience to guarantee a well
balanced popular vote. The winners of the final are chosen by unanimity
so the winners were recognized to be the best by all the 21 judges.
Question 16
"The 1st Ganja Cup now has related events outside Thailand as well.
Why do you want to expand the Ganja Cup internationally?
In the future, what kind of competition or community would you like it to become?"
Answer：The 1st Ganja Cup is not run by a Company. The 1st Ganja Cup is a spontaneous gathering of people that share similar
values and ideals regarding some specific principles, like global legalization, organic agriculture, prisoners liberation, mutual support and more topics that are available to be learned, discussed and even
proposed at our platform 1stganjacup.com
Question 17
The Thai cannabis industry
"Thailand’s cannabis market has grown rapidly since 2022.
At the same time, foreign genetics, indoor cultivation, large-scale producers, and large cannabis businesses have become more common.
From a farmer’s point of view, do you think small-scale Thai farmers have truly benefited from the growth of the cannabis market? What role and opportunities do you think still remain for small farmers in today’s market?"
Answer：When you start from zero is easy to rapidly grow. Anyway the growth is not linear and it moves in waves. Thailand liberalization is not only about the market, it is about a basic human right that have been finally unlocked: the right to include plants in the
research and application of medicine at all levels commercial and not commercial.
Somehow that right was lost because of the war on drugs and it is time for the whole world, not only Thailand, to restore it. Plants are living beings; they cannot be included in the list of drugs that are man made substances.
What was good in Thailand compared to other countries that have legalized is that Thailand has totally freed the herb without regulations.
They just said: plants are not drugs, so we remove them from the narcotic lists and it is not anymore illegal to research, grow or sell.
For the farmers was initially a sort of fever to the gold green and so many have begun to grow ganja everywhere thinking they were going to
become rich because of that. But most of them were not prepared to handle the products in the proper way or to make a sustainable business
plan so they failed and some of them now hate ganja because of the money they lost. Some have begun to complain against illegal imports and some other
people, conditioned by the old propaganda that classify ganja as a dangerous drug, have begun to ask for regulations. Anyway after all these years we can say that those regulations are not necessary to keep
society safe. Ganja is not dangerous. What is dangerous are the chemical products. Those who use chemicals should follow strict safety rules, not those growing organic weeds.
To be able to make small farmers successful we need to support them.
As customers by choosing their products and as groups or institutions providing resources and infrastructures.
Question 18
"What do you think is currently missing from Thailand’s cannabis industry?
In what direction would you like to see the Thai cannabis industry develop in the future?"
Answer：People is tricked to believe that medical grade is only indoor or synthetic. But this is false and it is important we fight back to recognize Outdoor Organic as the true medicinal flowers. Also there is a risk they will make some regulations to limit the access and the use to specific controlled situations. For example they invented the word “recreational” and they want to forbid the people to self medicate forcing them to have a medical prescription because of that. I hope they will not be able to impose these measures. I actually see that the rest of the world will follow the liberation of plants instead because the planet needs it. Cannabis is not only about flowers to smoke. Cannabis is about bio fuel, fabric, paper, cannabis is the solution to most of the problems we are facing on contemporary days. It is not the time to
repress but to liberalize and implement.
Question 19
"After everything we have discussed, I would like to return to the main question. Consumers, markets, farmers, breeders, and experts may all have
different ideas about quality. Ultimately, who do you think decides what makes cannabis “good”?"
Answer：Cannabis is good for so many reasons as soon is pure and not contaminated. To be clean and free from harmful contaminations is what makes ganja safe and good to be consumed.
Question 20
*Through all of your current work, what do you ultimately hope to preserve or leave behind?
Is it cannabis itself, Thai landrace genetics, farmers, local agriculture, culture, or something else?
Please answer in your own words."
Answer: I like to think that together all us that are here now we become able to end all unnecessary sufferance and live in harmony together with the planet.
Question 21
"How are Prempavee Farm’s cannabis and related products currently distributed within Thailand?
In particular, are there any shops, dispensaries, or partners carrying your products in places that are popular with Japanese travelers, such as
Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, or Chiang Mai?"
Answer：Them don’t have. Currently you have to visit my farm if you want a taste of them. Anyway if somebody who reads this is interested in becoming an investor and opening a Prempavee Shop in any part of the world following my guidelines and legally offering those products from my farm that are legal in that place to be offered I will be happy to consider. In Japan maybe we can begin selling vegan food and t-shirts and in the future who knows we may become able to sell ganja flowers too if the legislation changes.
Question 22
"Finally, is there anything you would like to say to readers in Japan?"
Answer：Japan is known to be very harsh about
cannabis.Thailand was very harsh too and a day by another this block
was freed. Don’t lose hope. Keep doing your things and free the ganja
and the related prisoners also over there.
2 Likes