Thailand is reportedly planning a nationwide regulatory sandbox permitting international guests to transform crypto into native foreign money for digital funds in a bid to spice up tourism.
Often known as TouristDigiPay, the scheme is predicted to go stay on Monday and permit customers to trade cryptocurrencies for Thai baht and make digital funds by e-money service suppliers, in keeping with a report on Saturday from native newspaper The Nation.
Solely vacationers in Thailand will likely be eligible to make use of the service after present process Know Your Buyer due diligence checks and opening an account with a digital asset enterprise and an e-money supplier regulated by the Financial institution of Thailand and the nation’s Securities and Trade Fee.
There can even be safeguards similar to month-to-month spending limits and a block on direct money withdrawals. Nonetheless, full particulars on the TouristDigiPay initiative will reportedly be launched on Monday by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira.
Officers hope crypto can enhance tourism
The TouristDigiPay scheme is an try to breathe new life into Thailand’s tourism business, and a direct response to the slowdown in international guests, particularly from China, which has lengthy been thought-about a cornerstone of the business, The Nation reported.
Thailand welcomed round 16.8 million vacationers within the first half of 2025, down from 17.7 million the identical time final yr, with a 24% drop in vacationers from East Asia and a 34% fall in customer numbers from China, suppose tank The World Tourism Institute stated in a July 10 report.
The report stated vacationers are eyeing different international locations within the area, similar to Japan with its weaker Japanese yen making it extra inexpensive, and the comparatively cheaper Vietnam.
“Thailand’s 5% tourism decline in 2025 underlines the pressing want for diversification, market repositioning, and enhanced customer experiences to compete in a altering regional panorama,” the report stated.
Thailand nonetheless experimenting with crypto
Utilizing crypto to stimulate tourism has been underneath evaluation by the Thai authorities, with the nation’s SEC finishing a public session on using monetary innovation and digital belongings to assist financial and tourism development on Aug. 13.
Chunhavajira first introduced the TouristDigiPay initiative throughout an funding seminar in Bangkok on Could 26.
Associated: Thailand to dam Bybit, OKX and different crypto exchanges on June 28
It adopted an announcement in January a few trial to permit international guests to pay for items and providers utilizing cryptocurrencies in Phuket, one in every of Thailand’s hottest vacationer locations. The trial remains to be within the works.
Nations and companies adopting crypto to draw vacationers
The Kingdom of Bhutan in South Asia has additionally taken steps to combine crypto funds into its tourism infrastructure, such because the partnership between Binance Pay and native financial institution DK Financial institution to let customers pay for his or her bills utilizing crypto.
Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin introduced a partnership with Shift4 Funds on Aug. 11, providing clients the choice to pay for outer house journeys in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL) and Stablecoins similar to USDT (USDT) and USDC (USDC).
In the meantime, in July, the United Arab Emirates signed an settlement with Crypto.com to permit passengers to pay for flights and in-flight purchases utilizing crypto.
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