How to choose a cannabis POS in Thailand: 10 questions to ask vendors

Run one real operating test

A polished sales demo can hide hours of manual work. The vendor rings up a product, prints a receipt, and opens a dashboard. Your team may still need to connect that sale to the patient, PT33, stock batch, and reporting trail by hand.

Bring a supplier document, one test patient, a named stock batch, a controlled sale, and a refund. Ask the vendor to process all five while you watch. Use sample data and keep real patient information out of the demonstration.

Thailand's medical-cannabis operating guidance places weight on prescription handling, licensed sources, and current receiving and dispensing records. The linked guide explains PT27, PT28, and PT33 in detail; the tests below focus on the software used around them.

1. Can a patient apply for PT33 inside the POS?

Begin at patient intake. The POS should let staff start the application without copying identity and medical intake between unrelated tools. An authorized practitioner must assess the patient and decide whether a PT33 prescription is appropriate; the software must not promise approval.

After the practitioner acts, the POS should show the operational status required for checkout, including the patient match, issue and expiry context, authorized quantity, and remaining allowance. Counter staff should see only the information their role requires.

Test approval, rejection, expiry, and a connection failure. A failed synchronization should stop the controlled sale, show a recoverable error, and avoid duplicate patient or allowance records after retry.

2. Can you trace one sale from patient check to stock movement?

Ask the vendor to select the test patient, check the PT33 status, choose an eligible batch, take payment, and produce a receipt. Then open the stock movement and audit event created by the sale.

You should be able to move between the patient status, prescription reference, exact batch, quantity, payment, receipt, employee, and timestamp without searching a spreadsheet or chat thread.

3. Does the POS stop an incomplete controlled sale?

Repeat the sale with a missing patient record, an inactive PT33 context, and insufficient eligible stock. The system should block completion before it creates the receipt or accepts the final payment action.

The message should tell staff whether to correct the record or escalate the case. A warning that appears after checkout leaves the control to memory and creates more work at month end.

4. Does every batch keep its source history?

Receive a sample batch during the demonstration. Record the supplier, relevant licence details, source documents, received quantity, branch, and batch identifier. Transfer part of it, count it, and sell from it.

The system should preserve the original source through each movement. Avoid systems that add flower to a generic product balance and lose the link between physical stock and supplier evidence.

5. Do refunds and corrections preserve the original event?

Refund one line from the sample sale. Change a stock count and enter a reason. Ask who can approve each action and where a reviewer can see the original value, correction, employee, and time.

An editable sales row may feel convenient during a quiet demo. It becomes difficult to review once several employees and branches can change completed records.

6. Can a report total lead back to its source records?

Open the PT27 and PT28 working records or exports. Choose one quantity and ask the vendor to trace it back to the receiving document, stock movement, or dispensing event that produced it.

Exports should support review rather than replace the ledger. Staff still need to investigate mismatches and confirm the current filing process with DTAM or the responsible authority. Software cannot complete the operator's legal review.

7. Can each role see only the information it needs?

Sign in as a counter employee, branch manager, compliance reviewer, and owner. Compare the screens and exports available to each account, then check whether the system logs access to sensitive records and permission changes.

A counter employee may need an approved operational status and remaining allowance. That role may not need practitioner notes, identity documents, or records from another branch.

8. Can branches transfer stock without losing the batch?

Transfer part of the sample batch between two branches. The sending and receiving records should agree on the batch, quantity, status, and responsible employees. Both branches should retain the source history after receipt.

Also check whether owners can compare branches without giving every manager access to the whole company.

9. Does daily checkout fit Thai operations?

Test cash, Thai QR, and the payment methods your branches accept. Print or preview a receipt, apply an approved discount, complete a refund, and close the shift.

Check Thai and English labels with the employees who will use them. Confirm THB display, branch receipt details, tax settings, and payment reconciliation. Ask what happens after a failed payment request or a temporary connection problem.

10. Can you export your data and get support at launch?

Request an export during the demo. Check for usable products, suppliers, batches, stock movements, sales, receipts, and reporting records. The contract should state who owns the data, how backups work, and what you receive when the service ends.

Ask the vendor to describe the first branch in concrete steps: opening stock, staff roles, devices, payments, training, and launch support. Set one acceptance test that starts with a PT33 application and ends with a traced reporting record.

A 30-minute cannabis POS scorecard

Score each test from zero to two. Give zero when the vendor handles it outside the system, one when the flow needs manual steps, and two when the vendor demonstrates a traceable end-to-end record.

Treat any zero in the first six tests as unresolved operating work, even if the total score looks strong. Run the same test against PorThorOS and every competing vendor.

PorThorOS as one option

PorThorOS is designed for licensed dispensary operations in Thailand. Its product scope connects the Cannabox MD prescription workflow, batch-exact checkout, receipts, stock movements, PT27/PT28 working ledgers, role-based access, refunds, shifts, and branch transfers.

Use the same scorecard for PorThorOS that you use for any vendor. The product does not issue PT33, make clinical decisions, or guarantee regulatory compliance. An authorized practitioner remains responsible for prescription decisions, and the operator remains responsible for reviewing its records and current obligations.

This article discusses software and operating records, not legal or medical advice. Confirm current requirements with DTAM, the responsible provincial authority, and qualified advisers before changing your process.