Thailand to Test Crypto Payments in Tourism Sector

In 2025, the Thai government plans to launch a pilot project in Phuket, allowing tourists to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for purchasing goods and services.

Visitors to Phuket will be able to use BTC for everyday payments, according to Nation Thailand, citing Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira.

Speaking at a seminar organized by the Marketing Association of Thailand, Pichai stated that the government’s policy is to test cryptocurrency payments in tourism-oriented cities to simplify the use of digital assets for foreign guests.

Tourists participating in the pilot project will need to undergo a KYC process and register their crypto-assets on a local trading platform before using them in the local market. A clearing house will automatically convert BTC into Thai baht at the point of payment.

The pilot program for cryptocurrency payments will launch in Phuket in 2025. According to Pichai Chunhavajira, the project will comply with existing legal frameworks and won’t require amendments to current laws. He also noted that a small community of crypto specialists in Thailand already uses digital assets in their daily lives. Despite various government initiatives for integrating digital assets still being in their early stages, crypto adoption continues.

In late October 2024, the Bank of Thailand joined the international Project Ensemble initiative aimed at advancing tokenization. Additionally, in 2024, the central bank completed a pilot project for a retail CBDC and launched a program to distribute 10,000 digital baht to 45 million Thai citizens as a one-time payment.