The former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, spoke about wanting to see the country adopt a more favorable approach to crypto and the digital economy. Shinawatra’s intervention came at an event in Bangkok, where there was a discussion on the approval of a draft law for the legalization of casinos. 

Thailand: Thaksin Shinawatra talks about a more favorable approach to crypto

Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand, made some statements regarding crypto, advocating for a more favorable approach from the Southeast Asian country. 

According to what was reported, it seems that during an event in Bangkok on Monday, one of the most influential figures in Thai politics spoke about crypto and the legalization of casinos.

Regarding crypto, in fact, Thaksin said that Thai financial institutions should be more open to the sector, taking as an example the favorable position of the President of the USA Donald Trump. 

Not only that, Thaksin mentioned the appointment Paul Atkins as head of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as a Trump action that supports the deregulation of crypto.

And by doing so, the former prime minister of Thailand has pushed the Asian country to take an example, stating that the Thai SEC must have a more digital approach. Among the various recommended things, Thaksin said that it should allow the trading of stablecoins, or coins that are backed by assets. 

The upcoming legalization of casinos

The Bangkok event and Thaksin’s intervention came just a few hours after the Thai cabinet approved a draft law for the legalization of casinos.  

In this regard, Thaksin said that the government is studying a way to control access to online gambling and the related tax revenues. 

“Online gambling counts from two to four million Thai users, with savings of 300 billion baht and gains and losses of about 500 billion per year. If we could tax 20%… we would obtain more than 100 billion per year.“

In fact, in Thailand, most forms of gambling are still illegal, despite their strong popularity. 

Always, Thaksin and the governments led or supported by him have pushed for their legalization to create jobs and boost tourism, arguing that huge sums of money are lost that could be transformed into state revenue.

Thailand and the 2024 SEC program to experiment with crypto services

Last August 2024, Thailand had adopted a regulatory sandbox to explore and regulate crypto services.

This is a new program that was needed to experiment with legal services related to crypto, and to which the country has given freedom to the interested parties to participate in their dedicated regulatory sandbox. 

Among the various service providers, six categories have been identified: crypto-exchange, broker, dealer, fund managers, advisors, and custodial wallet providers.

This regulatory test approach for crypto services in Thailand was a confirmation of openness towards the sector. Not only that, in June 2024, One Asset Management obtained authorization to launch the first crypto ETF in Thailand.