MANY considered it as bad news for Thailand when it’s been widely reported in the social media like Facebook and Line that Banthoon Niyamabha, or better known among cancer patients as Uncle Doctor Too, had fled to Laos recently to avoid arrest by the police.
The story, as seen being reported in the social media by Dr. Suthiporn Pathumthevapiban, a former rector of Assumption University, says he and his friend, Mr Krit Tailanka, would like to thank Mr Banthoon for his advice to use ganja nano oil to treat the last stage liver cancer.
He said around November 2017, a doctor at Rama Hospital notified Mr Krit that the cancer at his liver was the cause of his skin turning yellow and had prescribed a medicine (very expensive) to contain the cancer.
But by the end of November Mr Krit had decided to stop using the medicine to delay his death although he can claim the medical expense as he was a former government official.
He instead decided to use the ganja nano oil as recommended by Mr Banthoon. After using the ganja nano oil for 20 days he went to see the doctor who found out that the yellow skin had gone. The doctor however made an appointment for him to undergo a chemotherapy in January this year but he refused. He later underwent a CT scan to check his liver to find out on February 21 that the cancer had miraculously gone.
His doctor was surprised by the result as the patient did not inform him of the ganja nano oil usage.
The story, which so far has not been reported or confirmed in the mainstream media, went on to say that Mr Banthoon, who has successfully done a research on the ganja nano oil as medicine, has been granted a Lao citizenship by the Lao Government.
He will now work closely with Dr Davong, a Lao’s cancer specialist at Lao Center Anticancereux in Vientian.
He said in the story that this has happened after Mr Banthoon, who is a pioneer in using ganja to cure cancer, proceeded to apply for a certification for his ganja nano oil from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
He did not get the certification but instead his house was searched by officials, leading to his decision to leave his country for Laos.
In Thailand, cannabis, known by the name ganja, is listed as a class-5 narcotic under the Narcotics Act, B.E. 2522 (1979). Possession, cultivation, and transport (import/export) of up to 10 kg cannabis may result in a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and/or a fine.
Possession, cultivation, and transport of more than 10 kg is punishable by 2–15 years in prison and/or a fine. For the majority of people arrested for simple possession of small quantities of cannabis (“ganja”) a fine, rather than prison time, is imposed.
Narcotics police in Thailand currently view methamphetamines (ice and “ya ba”) as a more serious issue. Cannabis can be found sold in bars and restaurants in certain parts of the country.
In an earlier interview with BBC Thai, Mr Banthoon said he used to consume ganja before it was declared illegal by law in 1979. In 2013 his younger his sister suffered from nose cancer and that brought him to start experimenting ganja as a medicine to treat his sister’s illness.
He said later once the international cancer institute confirmed that ganja can be used to treat cancer, he started to learn how to extract oil from ganja from Rick Simson, who used to use ganja to treat himself and posted how to extract oil from ganja on Youtube.
His daily activity after that is to find ganja to extract nano oil and help treat those who come to him to help cure their cancer.
Dr Somnuk Siripanthong, a supporter of ganja as medical use, told BBC Thai it is scientifically known that ganja functions as TP53, the gene which protects cancer in our body and it has never been reported that anybody died from using ganja.
Ganja has two key ingredients which help treat cancer and other illness, CBD (Cannabidiol) and THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), he added.
However, others said there have not been sufficient evidence to conclude that ganja can help treat cancer and more experiments are needed.
While ganja is being legalized in some places like in the US, Thailand is still in the stage of experimenting but public awareness of the benefit of ganja is gaining momentum.
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Top: A sign segregating patients in US, the photographer wondered if somebody might sue the doctor for doing this, but as a flu epidemic was about to hit, he thinks it does make a lot of sense. Photo: Erik Wilde (CC-BY-SA-2.0)
By Kowit Sanandang
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