Tipsuda Thavaramara has seen the monetary system move from the gold standard to free-floating currencies to now blockchain technology. The former secretary-general of Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently told the Bangkok Post her thoughts on where the securities industry is headed.

Thailand has become an inviting place for the security token industry. One of the financial authorities who was most responsible for crafting the recent royal degree on digital assets was Tipsuda Thavaramara, formerly the head of Thailand’s SEC. Her interest in blockchain technology was sparked by her own son, who recommended her a book titled The Age of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Revolution. Since then, her passion for blockchain has been ignited.

“I started to realize that this technology could change the global economy by transforming the role of intermediaries and connecting economies without the many layers of middlemen,” she told the Bankok Post.

Thavaramara’s career began in 1993, just a year after the agency was first established. She would spend 10 years at the securities watchdog. Now, she is closely watching ‘fintech’ as it takes hold of Thailand since 2015. It’s her belief that, in the future, traditional securities will adopt ‘tokenized’ features; the distinction between traditional and digital assets will be phased out over time.

It was through trying to participate in the tZERO security token offering that she first got a feel for the process herself. Although she did not qualify for the investor process, it made it clear to her the importance of intermediaries. “From this experience, I have learned that intermediaries still have a role as a medium to facilitate convenience,” she says. “But they must be trustworthy and their security system must be of a high standard.”

In short, Thavaramara is a security token believer, however, her advice would be to try to recognize the fact that the SEC can often take some time to ‘catch up.’ “The world is changing,” she says. “Don’t be afraid, try to understand, dare to confront and accept that [the SEC] may not be right all the time.”

Do you believe Thailand could become a hub for the security token industry? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.

Image courtesy of Bankok Post.