Thailand Plans To Become ‘Crypto-Positive’ Country To Enhance Tourism

Thailand is planning to become ‘crypto-positive’ in order to attract crypto holders and re-boost its tourism industry. The South East Asian nation aims to regain back some of the $80 billion in lost tourism revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdowns.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is doing groundwork with the country’s regulators to make it easier and more convenient for visitors to spend cryptocurrencies during their visit, said the TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn.

He explained:

“There are people who have become wealthy from holding digital currencies and they may want to use the wealth they have accrued.
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.”

Supasorn said that the Thai tourism authority is working towards the wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies, which it plans to have in place by the time global travel returns to normal.

The plan is already being discussed with the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Bank of Thailand (BOT), and Bitkub Online Co., the largest crypto exchange in the country, he revealed.

TAT will set up a new unit next year to handle the issuance of its own crypto tokens, produce a wallet, and build a new tourism ecosystem, he added. Thailand currently does not recognize cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether, as legal tender.

The Thai tourism has according to estimations lost $80 billion in revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, Thailand attracted almost 40 million foreign travelers, generating more than $60 billion in revenue.

However, due to the pandemic, the country shut down its borders for more than a year. Thailand recently opened its borders to vaccinated travelers, but due the additional entry requirements the tourism numbers have not recovered.

The TAT governor suggested that Thailand could recoup about 80% of its pre-pandemic tourism revenue in 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 pre-Covid levels by 2024, adding that the country is targeting about 1 million high-spending tourists in the first quarter of next year. Meanwhile, the authority hopes that 10% of crypto holders will eventually travel to Thailand.

Supasorn said: