Thailand is working on becoming a ‘crypto-positive society’ because they want to attract crypto holders in order to give its tourism industry a much-needed boost. The country suffered losses of more than $80 billion, as it is the revenue it usually earns from tourism, because of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns that happened and now it is hoping to gain some of it back. The country’s regulators and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) are working together for making it more convenient and easier for visitors to spend crypto in Thailand. According to Yuthasak Supasorn, the Governor of TAT, there are a number of people out there who have become quite wealthy because of digital currencies.
He elaborated that they might want to use the wealth they have acquired, so if Thailand gives them the opportunity to use their cryptocurrencies without having to exchange them, or deal with government taxes, then it would undoubtedly be convenient for them. He went on to say that the tourism authority of Thailand was putting down the groundwork needed for wider acceptance of these digital currencies, which is planned to be put in place by the time global traveling goes back to normal. The governor disclosed that the plan was already in discussion with the Bank of Thailand (BOT), the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the largest crypto exchange in Thailand, Bitkub Online Co.
Furthermore, a new unit will be established by the authority next year for handling the task of issuing their own crypto tokens, developing a wallet, and also coming up with a new tourism ecosystem. As of now, the country of Thailand does not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tenders, such as Bitcoin or Ether. The goal of the Thai tourism authority is to recoup the lost revenue of more than $80 billion because of the coronavirus pandemic. Almost 40 million foreign travelers visited Thailand back in 2019 and this had led to a revenue of more than $60 billion.
However, just like most of the other countries around the globe, Thailand was also forced to close its borders for more than a year. It has only recently opened them once more to vaccinated travelers. According to Yuthasak, Thailand will be able to gain back almost 80% of its tourism revenue pre-pandemic in 2023 with just half of the tourists who came into the country in 2019, if it manages to get a crypto holder, such as Tim Cook to visit, or even Russell Crowe.
He believes that by 2024, Thailand’s tourism industry will return to normal and disclosed that the country wants to welcome about 1 million high-spending tourists in 2022’s first quarter. Meanwhile, the TAT hopes that they will be able to draw at least 10% of crypto owners to eventually travel to Thailand. The governor said that he considers crypto to be the future. Therefore, it is essential that Thailand becomes a crypto-positive society because this will help them in welcoming some quality tourists. The TAT is also reportedly working on introducing their own token.