FX.co ★ Thailand Rolls Out Crypto Conversion Scheme to Boost Tourism

Thailand is set to introduce an 18-month pilot program designed to enable foreign tourists to convert cryptocurrency into Thai baht for domestic expenditures, aiming to reinvigorate its struggling tourism industry. The conversion will be capped at 550,000 baht as a measure to curb money laundering, with possible revisions following the trial, explained Lavaron Sangsnit, the permanent secretary of the Finance Ministry, on Monday. Under this initiative, tourists will utilize Thai-based crypto exchanges to move their funds into digital wallets, facilitating spending at local businesses. Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira remarked, “This project will support tourism,” potentially bolstering tourist spending. This endeavor follows the state-planning agency's adjusted forecast, lowering the predicted number of foreign arrivals for 2025 by 10% to 33 million, which starkly contrasts with the 2019 peak of 39.9 million visitors that generated 1.91 trillion baht in revenue.