A recent blogpost by the Ripple Team (https://ripple.com/insights/digital-assets-in-thailand-regulation/) has shed more light on Thailand’s stance on cryptocurrencies and related matters. Speakers, Archari Suppiroj and Thammarak Moenjak both shared Thailand’s perspectives and how the country plans to approach the technology moving forward.

Director of FinTech Department of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Thailand, Archari Suppiroj shared the following during a Ripple event organized in Bangkok.

“For Thailand, especially for the SEC, of course, we see a lot of development in this space. It is our belief, if we have the right framework, we can actually use the potential of the […] technologies to help the country and advance.”

She was also quoted by Ripple saying that the ban was a temporary action amidst the scams, and other ways that people were tricked using the very same technology

“In the end, it was decided that SEC should regulate everything, not just investment tokens or securities tokens, but also utility tokens, cryptocurrencies and relevant operators in those areas.”

Diving more into the regulatory aspects of the situation, as seen above, Thailand supposedly implemented said regulation in as little as three months’ time, classifying the virtual currencies as “digital assets” and coming up with a framework, where business operators had to interact with banks to ensure the protection of consumers.

Thailand’s framework for digital asset regulation strikes balance between protecting consumers and promoting innovation. Find out more: https://t.co/JijkcKmJXJ pic.twitter.com/vL1bBHJVYF — Ripple (@Ripple) April 23, 2019

Speaking on behalf of the Bank of Thailand is, Thammarak Moenjak from Financial Institutions Strategy Department. Here’s what he had to say:

“Central banks normally keep very quiet about this matter relating to cryptocurrencies, mainly because we don’t want confusion. […].”

He also noted that many of the workers in Thailand are from countries such as “Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam,” all of whom have families to support and want to send home money as soon as possible. In mentioning this, he argued that a blockchain-based service would bring relief to many in comparison to remittance services.

In the video that has since been shared, Suppiroj also shared how things work under the Thai law when it comes to cryptocurrencies. In particular, she explained:

“Previously, anyone could ask people to invest in exchange for project tokens […] Now only companies under Thai Law can issue ICOs and they are screened by ICO portals,”

noting that ICO portals are similar to financial advisors who address the legitimacy of business plans and who will have SEC go over them.

Finally, coming together as a whole, seemed to be the main area of interest, as many of the departments were supposedly holding on to some area of concern. For instance, it was reasoned that

“The Ministry of Finance was tasked with protecting customers and tax evasion, while the SEC is about protecting investors and promoting legitimate ICOs.” As for the country’s central bank, the three areas that they were keen on include, “financial stability […] exchange control and regulating payments.”

So, what is Thailand’s current stance, at least in the eyes of the SEC and the Bank of Thailand? As per Suppiroj, both entities are encouraging those with good ideas to speak to them, adding that “rules have to be amended,” in order to make sense of the technology at hand.

By the sounds of it all, it seems like Thailand’s current stance, especially compared to the 2018 ban, has drastically changed. In their viewpoint, rules need to be in place, with necessary modifications that reflect the industry at large. What do you think of the two entities’ approach towards crypto sphere and blockchain technology? Let us know in the comments below.