Thailand Wants To Be A “New Paradise” For World Crypto Users

Thailand wants to be a crypto-friendly country (Coinwire)

JAKARTA – Thailand plans to become a cryptocurrency-friendly country. This was conveyed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the country's regulator. Thailand wants to be a country that provides convenience and comfort for tourists who use cryptocurrencies there, as reported by Bloomberg.

The Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Yuthasak Supasorn, stated that some people can become rich by owning crypto and they may want to use this wealth for certain things including tourism.

“There are people who get rich holding digital currencies and they may want to use the wealth they have earned,” said Supasorn.

"If they can use their currency here without having to exchange it, or be faced with government taxes, then that will create convenience for them," he added.

He explained that the Thai tourism authorities are working on regulations regarding the widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies. This rule will be implemented when the world returns to normal, especially after the pandemic where people can travel to various places.

The effort has been discussed with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC), Bank of Thailand (BOT), and Bitkub Online Co., the country's largest crypto exchange.

In the next year, the authorities will form a new unit to handle the issuance of crypto tokens themselves, produce digital wallets, and build a new tourism ecosystem. Even so, until now Thailand has not recognized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum as an official medium of exchange.

Thailand intends to compensate for losses of 80 billion US dollars due to the corona virus pandemic. Whereas before the pandemic, Thailand managed to attract 40 million foreign tourists to the land of white elephants and earned more than US$60 billion in revenue in 2019.

Later, Thailand re-opened access that was previously closed to foreign tourists. The opening of the access is intended for tourists who have been vaccinated so they can travel.

According to sources, Yuthasak suggested that Thailand could recover around 80% of its post-pandemic tourism revenue by 2023 with only half the number of foreign tourists in 2019 “by getting someone like Russell Crowe or a crypto holder like Tim Cook to travel here. ."

He expects Thailand's tourism industry to return to normal by 2024. Yuthasak added that his country is targeting around 1 million high-spending tourists in the first quarter of next year. Meanwhile, authorities hope 10% of crypto holders will eventually travel to Thailand.

"Crypto is the future, so we must make Thailand a crypto-positive society to welcome this group of quality tourists," said the TAT governor.