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While other countries are planning to impose stricter regulations on crypto, Thailand sees crypto as the future and is taking steps to become a “crypto-positive society.” The government sees a huge opportunity in luring rich crypto-owning tourists which could help offset lost tourism revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) wants to make it easier for tourists to spend crypto in the country. The authority is currently working with Thai regulators to make it happen with the aim of gaining back some of the $80 billion drop in tourism revenue due to the pandemic.
“There are people who have become wealthy from holding digital currencies and they may want to use the wealth they have accrued,” TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said, according to Bloomberg. “If they can use their currencies here without having to exchange it, or be faced with government taxes, then it would create convenience for them.”
The tourism authority is laying the groundwork for greater adoption of crypto in the country and projects that everything will be in place when global travel normalizes. The TAT is already in discussions with the Bank of Thailand, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the largest crypto exchange in the country.
The TAT plans to set up a new unit in 2022 that will be tasked in the creation of a new tourism ecosystem, issuance of its own crypto tokens, and the creation of a wallet. The country hopes to revive its tourism industry which lost around $80 billion in revenue as global travel ground to a halt during the pandemic.
Yuthasak is hopeful that by 2023, Thailand’s tourism could rise to 80 percent of its pre-pandemic revenue with only half of the number of tourists in 2019. This could happen by “getting someone like Russell Crowe or a crypto holder like Tim Cook to travel here.”
“Crypto is the future, so we must make Thailand a crypto-positive society to welcome this group of quality tourists,” he added.
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