If I grow holy basil at home and sell the leaves at the market, is that illegal?

If it's a traditional or common variety, this law doesn't come into it at all. If it's a protected variety you bought legitimately, selling leaves or food that isn't used as propagating material falls within the exemptions in the Department of Agriculture's handbook.

Can I save seed from holy basil I bought and replant it?

Replanting for yourself is allowed under the exemptions for farmers using propagating material they produced, and for non-commercial use. But if the variety is protected, don't sell the seed or seedlings you raise without permission.

Where can I check the real status of an application?

The Plant Variety Protection Office of Thailand's Department of Agriculture, which publishes applications and the list of registered varieties on its website. This article is general information, not legal advice.

New holy basil varieties seek protection: what home growers may still do

This week’s news reported that a private company has applied to protect four new holy basil (kaprao) varieties, and growers and street-food cooks worried they might no longer be able to grow or sell kaprao. The short answer: the law protects only registered new varieties, not traditional holy basil, and even for a protected variety, growing your own and selling leaves or food is not banned. What needs permission is producing and selling propagating material, such as seed or cuttings. This lesson summarises the Department of Agriculture’s handbook and the news report that cites the department’s notices.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a specific case, ask the Plant Variety Protection Office at Thailand’s Department of Agriculture.

What the news said

According to Krungthep Turakij (Bangkok Biz News) on 23 October 2026, the Department of Agriculture released its published notices for applications to register four new holy basil varieties. The applications were filed in February and March 2023 (B.E. 2566), and two notices were published on 14 November and 27 December 2023. The report says the varieties were developed with a public university, starting from native holy basil seed, doubling the chromosome sets with a chemical treatment combined with tissue culture.

The Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives told reporters that people can still grow and eat holy basil as usual, but cannot propagate a protected variety commercially, and that the law does not make traditional holy basil anyone’s property.

What the law protects

The Plant Variety Protection Act B.E. 2542 (1999) gives rights to breeders who create new varieties, as an incentive to develop crops. The Department of Agriculture’s handbook says a variety must meet four criteria to be registered as new.

Criterion	In short
Novelty	Propagating material not sold by or with consent of the breeder for more than 1 year before the application
Distinctness	Clearly different traits from other existing varieties
Uniformity	Plants of the variety show the same traits
Stability	Traits stay the same when propagated for the next generation

The first point alone explains why traditional holy basil, grown and traded for generations, can’t be registered as new: it isn’t new.

The rights holder’s rights under Section 33 cover propagating material only: producing it (seed, cuttings, plants), selling or distributing it, importing or exporting it, and holding it for those purposes. Per the department’s handbook, doing so without permission carries up to two years in prison, a fine of up to 400,000 baht, or both.

The exemptions home growers should know

Section 33 lists six exemptions, part of which the handbook calls the farmer’s exemption.

Acts not intended to use the plant as propagating material.
Study, research or experiments aimed at breeding.
Acts done in good faith.
A farmer planting or propagating with propagating material they produced themselves. If the minister declares the variety one whose improvement should be promoted, the farmer may propagate no more than 3 times the quantity obtained.
Acts without a commercial purpose.
Reselling or using propagating material that the rights holder sold, or allowed to be sold.

What you can do at home

What you do	Traditional or common holy basil	Protected variety, bought legitimately
Grow it to eat at home	Yes	Yes
Sell the leaves, or sell pad kaprao	Yes	Yes; leaves and food are not propagating material
Save seed to replant in your own garden	Yes	Yes, under exemptions 4 and 5
Give seed to a neighbour to grow for food	Yes	Likely under exemption 5 as non-commercial; ask the department if unsure
Raise seedlings or save seed to sell	Yes	Needs the rights holder’s permission
Resell plants bought from the rights holder	Yes	Yes, under exemption 6

Note that the news report didn’t address saving seed from a protected variety directly; this table reads the exemptions in the department’s handbook. How to save vegetable seed is covered in the seed-saving lesson.

Plant variety rights sit on the seed and the cuttings, not on the basil leaves in the wok.

Steps to protect a new plant variety under the 1999 Act

Worked example: counting the dates

The handbook’s numbers show how long each step takes.

Objection window. Once the department publishes an application, anyone who thinks it is unlawful, for example because the variety isn’t new, can object within 90 days of publication. From the 27 December 2023 notice, 90 days runs to about late March 2024.
Length of protection. Crops that yield within two years of planting are protected for 12 years from the certificate date. Holy basil yields leaves within a few months, so it would likely fall in this 12-year group. Suppose a certificate were issued on 1 March 2027: protection would end around late February 2039, after which anyone could propagate and sell it.
The three-times rule. If the minister declared a variety one to promote, a farmer who bought 2 kg of seed could propagate up to 2 × 3 = 6 kg for their own planting.

The date in step 2 is invented to show the counting, not the real date of any application.

How to tell if seed or a plant is protected

Section 34 requires the rights holder to put a mark on the propagating material, container or packaging, showing at least:

the words “Thai Plant Variety Protection” (คุ้มครองพันธุ์พืชไทย),
the registration certificate number,
the plant species and variety name.

A seed pack or pot without this mark is most likely not a protected variety. If in doubt, check the list of registered varieties on the Plant Variety Protection Office’s website.

Don’t confuse it with variety registration

The department also runs a different law, the Plant Act B.E. 2518 (1975), under which it certifies “registered varieties” and “certified varieties”. That is a separate process from new-variety protection. For example, a department notice from November 2023 invited objections within 30 days to applications to register 15 varieties, including rice, durian, champedak and coconut. That 30-day window differs from the 90-day objection period for new-variety protection. When you read the news, check which law it is about.

Common mistakes

Thinking all holy basil in Thailand has been registered. Protection attaches only to the named new varieties.
Worrying you can’t sell pad kaprao. Food and leaves are not propagating material.
Raising seedlings of a protected variety to sell online. That is the rights holder’s right and needs permission.
Trusting shared posts without checking the notice. Department notices state the variety names, application numbers and dates.
Mixing up registered varieties and new varieties. Different laws, different procedures.

If you want to start holy basil in a pot, see the Thai kitchen herbs growing lesson.

Sources

General information, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, take regular medication, or have a liver or kidney condition, ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking herbs beyond normal food amounts.