Content |
Main article: Cryptocurrencies
Chronicle
2025
Thailand approved stablecoin - they can pay for purchases
On March 10, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand recognized "approved stablecoin USDT cryptocurrency." This allows USDT to be traded nationally, simplifies the listing of currency on regulated exchanges, and paves the way for USDT to be accepted for payments. In particular, tourists in Thailand will be able to pay with cryptocurrency for all goods and services.
USDT, with a market capitalization of $142 billion, according to Tether (token issuer), is the world's most widely used stablecoin, providing a reliable and effective bridge between traditional fiat systems and the digital economy. The recognition of the USDT as an approved cryptocurrency "marks a turning point in the development of digital assets" in Thailand. This will provide investors with more flexibility and choice, while contributing to a more dynamic and sustainable industry.
 | We value the Thai market highly and are constantly looking for ways to improve services. Our priority is to provide users in the country with a safe, transparent and reliable stablecoin experience, "says Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. |  |
Thai Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira spoke about the project to use cryptocurrency by tourists. The government's policy is to support cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in tourism-focused cities. It is assumed that this will provide foreign guests with a convenient way to pay for goods and services. No amendments to the current laws will be required, since the authorities already have the mechanisms necessary to support the project. The implementation of the initiative, which at the first stage will spread to Phuket, is due to the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies among foreign tourists.[1]
Foreign tourists allowed to pay with cryptocurrency in Phuket
In January 2025, the Thai authorities launched a pilot program to accept cryptocurrency payments from foreign tourists on Phuket Island. The initiative will allow travelers to pay for goods and services using bitcoin.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Phichai Chunhawajira announced the launch of the program at a seminar of the Thai Marketing Association. The project is being implemented within the framework of the current legislation and will not require changes to the legal framework.
To participate in the program, tourists need to register their bitcoins on Thai exchanges and go through the identity verification procedure. All cryptocurrency payments will be converted into Thai baht through a special clearing house.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the program is designed to make digital transactions more accessible in tourist areas and increase the country's competitiveness in the international market. As an example, he cited the opportunity for foreign citizens to purchase real estate in Thailand for bitcoins.
In December 2024, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawat called on the government to more actively study cryptocurrencies and conduct experiments in a regulated environment to match global digitalization trends.
Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission is also working on new rules to expand opportunities to invest in digital assets. Binance Thailand CEO Nirun Fuvattananukul noted that the measures are aimed at creating an ecosystem where traditional finances will coexist with digital assets.
In some regions of the country, there is already experience in using cryptocurrencies. For example, in the Huai Phueng district of Kalasin province, more than 80 local enterprises accept payments in bitcoins through the Bitcoin Lightning application.[2]
2021: Development of Cryptotourism
At the end of November 2021, the Tourism Authority of Thailand announced that it was working with the country's regulators and the local cryptocurrency exchange to pave the way for the adoption of digital tokens for travel. According to Governor Yutasak Supasorn, this can help a country dependent on tourism to reimburse part of the income lost due to coronavirus infection in the amount of $80 billion.
In 2022, the country's tourism authority will create a new division that will produce its own crypto coin, create a wallet and a new tourism ecosystem. The Office is already in talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Bank of Thailand and the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bitkub. Thailand, popular among vacationers with its tropical islands with clean beaches and stormy nightlife, attracted almost 40 million foreign travelers in 2019, which brought in more than $60 billion in income.
| | If Thailand wants to restore about 80% of pre-pandemic tourism revenue in 2023, but with half the number of foreign tourists we've seen in 2019, we can achieve that by bringing people like Russell Crow or cryptocurrency holder Tim Cook here. Cryptocurrencies are the future, so we have to make Thailand a cryptopositive society to take in this group of quality tourists, "said Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. | |
Although Thailand allowed quarantine-free entry to travelers from more than 60 countries, tourism will return to the level that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, only by 2024. In the first quarter of 2022, the country plans to receive about 1 million wealthy tourists, and before that, the country closed its borders to foreign citizens for more than a year. The country's authorities are betting that 10% of cryptocurrency owners will eventually go to Thailand.[3]
2018: Thailand bans cryptocurrency transactions
The Thai government has banned local financial companies from conducting transactions with digital currencies, Rosbalt reported in February 2018[4].
Now the country's banks do not have the right to trade such assets and even issue loans to customers if their goal is to acquire cryptocurrency. The country's authorities, as well as their colleagues from other countries, cite the fact that digital money carries great risks, in particular in the field of financing terrorism and laundering funds obtained by crime.
Notes
| The site content is translated by machine translation software powered by PROMT. The machine-translated articles are not always perfect and may contain errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. Read original article If you find inaccuracies or errors in the results of machine translation, please write to editor@tadviser.ru. We will make every effort to correct them as soon as possible. |