The Best of 2024

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Another crazy year (as discussed in yesterday’s article) with a lot of development in the quality of buds here. Top growers upped their game for the third year in a row. Many new names, not necessarily new growers, emerged with some real fire forcing themselves into the mix and our attention. Other growers flooded the market with cheap buds of mediocre quality. Acceptable buds grown here in Thailandgood enough to smoke if handed to you—but not good enough for a serious consumer to buy. These buds have really driven the wholesale price of cannabis—and have probably helped make illegal imports obsolete.

All these buds had a profound effect on my rating system. The curve was adjusted with excellent and very good buds falling in the spread between 4.3-4.7. Good buds in the realm of 4.0+. And mediocre but acceptable buds generally falling in the 3.3+ (these bud are not reported in the pages of HighThailand).  

But I digress, below is my recap of my favorites of 2024. A hodgepodge of that which stood out for me and left an impression. The below reflects my own opinion, influenced and perhaps biased by my own experiences. My partners at HighThailand have their own, sometimes conflicting views, and no doubt HighThailand’s great consumers and readers have their own educated thoughts on their favorites and highlights of the year. We welcome you to share your thoughts on our various social media.

 

Fighters and Survivors: Growers who were already at the top of the game in 2023 and continued their upward trajectory in 2024 (in alphabetical order):

Canis Major: Simply put the “master”. Canis deserves the fame and good reputation he has deserved. His buds are the products of a passionate mix of art and patient science. Canis in many ways only competes with himself in the orthodox cannabis market—the only reason to put down a Canis bud is when the alternative bud is another one of his.

Buds of note:

Mellowz: guarana, vanilla and anise and a slow motion high.

Grape Stank: grape and sweet candied black berry with a completely laid back and relaxed high.

Wild Runtz: funky fruity aroma with spice, soap and herbs.

 

Fire Farms: Consistent for growing loud and super terpy buds—Fire Farms did not disappoint in 2024 with some of the brightest, aromatic and flavorful buds out there. But my favorite buds from Fire Farms were not their fruitiest and loudest, but rather their successful experiments with more old school flavors and genetics which delighted this toker.

Buds of note:

Permanent Cherries: my favorite cherry cultivar of the year with a neutralizing high.

Purple Panty Dropper: fumes of gassy berries and super sweet and sour grapes—I particularly enjoyed the indica pheno.

Girl Scout Cookies: an oldie but goody. This bud’s flavors and high took me places and had me super nostalgic.

 

Humble Gardens: New to HighThailand in 2023, Humble Gardens never slowed down in 2024 delivering some of the most delicious and naturally grown buds to come across these pages. Humble Gardens may be the first grower I reach for when I smoke buds for “personal” use rather than as part of this scientific journey through cannabis I am blessed to share with all of you.

Buds of note:

Mexican Flan x Adios Motherfucker: My favorite cultivar of the year, spicy, funky skunky pine, menthol, citrus and earthy with incredible euphoria and love.

Alien Mints: mint, rosemary, thyme and spice with soaring euphoria.

 

Green Space: Very similar to Humble Gardens, Green Space is growing some of the cleanest and most natural buds I have come across in Thailand. Green Space is constantly experimenting technique and introducing new cultivars into their mix, making the new arrival of buds an exciting discovery of this great grower’s process.

Buds of note:

Red Chili Truffle: a bud only I seem to love (the grower departed with the pheno), but love I do nonetheless. Spicy sweet and citrussy.

Subzero Cherry Bomb: my favorite bud with terps I normally hate. Like pouring an orange Fanta all over your face with some very secondary notes of berry fruit, herbs and earth.

Permanent Chimera: sweet rubber fumes mixing with a nutty, earthy, spicey notes.

 

M.O.B.: These guys only grow fire, and they seem to grow cultivars which cannot be found anywhere else. M.O.B. seems to have their own loyal group of fans and customers who go back years—but from time to time they send me a massive package of buds which completely lights up my entire apartment and leaves me in a state of bliss and wonder. Pungent does not begin to describe their buds.

Buds of note:

Gary Satan (and all the Gary Satan crosses):  Crazy gassy and fruity with a powerful high.

 

Best “new to HighThailand” 2024 grower: Golden Temple

To be clear, Golden Temple is not new to growing or to Thailand. In fact his “overnight” genius lies in his decades of experience and experimenting with local cultivars. His buds are different to say the least—with both a traditional and natural looking composition while at the same time with the sparkle and sex appeal equal to any Hollywood modern cultivated and manicured bud out there. Golden Temple and his buds are unique—his cultivars are his own and there is nothing I can compare them to. They are aromatic, flavorful and super strong—though not necessarily high in THC (there are lessons here for all of us). Not everyone agrees with me—in fact opinions on Golden Temple are quite polarizing with folks either loving the buds or left confused or overwhelmed in a corner. But whether you love them or not—Golden Temple is great for Thai cannabis. In a market where everyone is trying to live up to other folks’ standards, Golden Temple is setting his own, showing the incredible and untapped potential of our favorite plant and where we, the Thai cannabis community, can go with all we have to offer and develop.   

Buds of note:

Yā Bin: citrus fumes, candied guava and vanilla candy with a high which will leave you in a stupor.

Red Wine Bubblegum: sweet, skunky, herby, woody nature—with a fruit essence—heavy gas.

Wet Stones: super pungent and skunky—with a sour mango candy aroma (and a touch of pepper).

 

Most Underrated Farm: Teera Botanical/Epicure (Kasetsart University)

Teera/Epicure have been working closely with Kasetsart University from the beginning and have been consistent at not only growing fine quality cannabis, but also at elevating the quality of their grow from harvest to harvest—always staying on a pace which would keep them at the top of the pack as far their product. They grow a diverse array of flowers, and much to my satisfaction always have some real old school cultivars or buds with old school terp profiles in their rotation. For some reason, however, they never seem to get traction. They consistently impress me and their buds never let me down.

Buds of Note:

London Pound Cake (Tiki Cut): an old school bud, fragrant with a citrus, herbal, piney laden musk and tons of sour gas and fumes.

 

“New” Grower I expect big things from in 2025: Cloud 9 Genetics

Cloud 9 Genetics is not new to growing, but they were new to HighThailand’s pages in 2024 and they got my attention by always picking interesting cultivars and delivering high quality solid buds one after another. Cloud 9’s buds became so dependable and consistent that they effectively forced a big adjustment to the curve and rating system—with their buds representing the high level of excellence I think the market should strive for. I expect they will exceed their own level of excellence in 2025 and will keenly be watching and smoking in anticipation.

Buds of Note:

Apples and Bananas x Big Apple. I am not a fan of Apples and Bananas, which I think was done to death in 2024. But their Apples and Bananas x Big Apple was the one exception which had me sit back in my chair, inhale deeply and really enjoy this fine bud.

Mac 1 x Pancake Flury: sweet, creamy vanilla, cream lemon citrus and herb.

 

Other buds of note from 2024:

Magic Marker from Fire Farms and Humble Gardens Farms respectively: Two different takes with both versions leaning hard into Jealousy with amazing flavors and highs.

Captain Kush from Lucky Lobster Farmz: Gassy/skunky essence which is enhanced by a sweet earthy, pine, nutty barely and citrus and a very balanced high.

Kush from Thai Sticky Crew: skunky dankness with a minty, super herby, sweet, slightly pine and citrus aroma and incredible giddy high.

OMG Burger from Actera: thick and dank, sweet gassy fuel, earthy savory herby chives, funky cheese, caramelized onions (and ketchup?).

 

Biggest Heart Award(s): Tops Deep and Korn of Phuket High

There is a lot of love in our community—in the face of all which has challenged us in the past and what still may challenge us in the future—we are lucky that we have each other. This may sound corny—and for sure it is—but it is still true. These two gentlemen, Tops and Korn, represented this more than anyone else in the community.

Korn, who has had his own ups and downs and challenges, has always brought nothing but love and positivity to the people he is around. His very presence in a room lightens it—and of course it helps that he is a masterful grower in his own right. Korn is an instrumental member of our cannabis community, a man who is always ready to help, to lend a hand, give advice and support his community, his friends and family. Even in times where we should be the ones giving him support. Korn, we love you!

Bud of note:

Lazer Fuel: gassy and old school with spaced out happy high.

Tops is all heart, a big brother to our community (a little brother to me), his doors at Never Not High are always open for folks from the community to gather and discuss. He supported HighThailand and UpperCut by giving us a permanent home, counsel and dedicated his own passion to us. We are not the lone beneficiaries of Tops’s good will—he has supported several cannabis causes around the Kingdom with his presence and years of experience and common sense. Tops, we can’t imagine traveling this journey without you!

 

Best Cannabis Competition No One Understood (Understands): UpperCut 1!

I’ll abuse my own position of writer to start the list off by congratulating ourselves. As previously mentioned, I have my own biased opinion. But in all seriousness, UpperCut was an amazing experience for HighThailand where for 9 months we followed 10 of the best growers in Thailand as they grew (or tried to grow) the same three cultivars for a competition which Canis Major eventually won. The competition was rife with drama and problems, from dubious genetics, pests, conflict between growers, added stress of recriminalization and the many times faulty organization and filming skills of HighThailand. The whole while we failed to successfully communicate to our loving public that we were filming a competition—one we are editing right now—for YouTube.

 

But this was an experience of a lifetime, one we would not trade for anything. HighThailand grew closer to our competitor growers and really got to see what drives them and the challenges they face on a daily basis. We got to live the full spectrum of cannabis experience, from seedling, to nurturing and growing, to consumption and the ancillary culture which surrounds us. We experienced the art, music, food, sports and of course the endless intercourse of humans fighting each other over petty shit—and we can’t wait to bring this to our community over YouTube.

 

Biggest Disappointments of 2024: Spray on Terps and Internal Drama amongst Growers

Spray on terps, come on! What the fuck are you guys doing? Just when we got rid of the garbage imports coming in here we have some of our own guys spraying terps onto their flowers?! As Nick Becker (love child of Boris Becker and Freyja) put it, “Do we have to be like New York where normal brands have to write ‘no sprayed terps’ on their packs?!” Get your shit together and stop it. Spend your money on your grow—invest in good techniques—stop with the trickery and smoke and mirrors. Just put out good buds. Open your eyes and understand the market you are in—and sure as hell do not brag about your terps when they come out of a bottle. That shit is just embarrassing.   

As for internal drama, I don’t really know what to say. I mean, I understand that people fall out—we are all human and we all have issues, especially with other folks. However, from a selfish point of view, its really sad when some of the best legacy growers fall out and start shooting at each other. Its not good for their business and its not good for the community. HighThailand, and other members of the community, have felt at times like the child of multiple divorced parents, trying to figure out who we can invite to events. Who can be together in the same room at the same time. There have been too many tears shed, hurt feelings, empty (and sometimes not so empty) threats. Just grow your buds and let the grow speak for itself. We are always happy to support all our friends—but we don’t want to pick one friend over another—our community should represent and reflect all—especially those growers who dedicated so many years of their life before and after legalization. If you want to get divorced, that’s cool and your choice, but have an amicable divorce—it’s the healthiest way for everyone to move forward.

Well, I suppose that it for 2024. Stick with us through the new year—we are eager to showcase UpperCut 1 on YouTube, we have a new competition in the works, and we will continue engaging and bringing the Thai cannabis community to the world. Please, do follow our HighThailand YouTube channel and all our social media across every platform! We have a lot more to show and share!

 

Happy New Year!