Thailand is set to ease rules for tourists. The visitors can soon convert digital assets into Thai Baht currency. This will help them pay for their expenses. The Tourist Digi pay program will start as a trial. The primary objective is to enhance tourism through the use of digital assets. Payments to the merchants will be in Baht only. The goal is to attract more travellers.
Tourism-reliant Thailand will relax restrictions on foreign visitors converting digital asset holdings into the Baht to fund their travel expenses and spending while in the country. The government aims to promote innovation and support the use of digital assets to stimulate Thailand's tourism industry, while offering convenient payment options for foreigners, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira announced at a press briefing on Monday. The so-called TouristDigipay program will start its 18-month trial period through a regulatory sandbox in the fourth quarter, he added.
Digital assets cannot be used directly as a means of payment for goods and services; they can only be converted into Baht, and merchants will receive payments only in Baht, according to the officials. "We want to take every action to facilitate foreign tourists for their stays in Thailand," said Pichai. "This new program adds an innovation to replace overseas visitors' cash and credit card use here."
Southeast Asia's third-largest economy is attempting to attract international tourists from a broader range of countries, with visitors from China declining amid safety concerns. The government hopes to boost the flow of tourists from the Middle East and Southeast Asia to help offset a 33 per cent drop in Chinese travellers in the first half of the year following news of Chinese actor Wang Xing's kidnapping near Thailand's border with Myanmar.
On Monday, Thailand's central planning agency lowered its forecast for foreign tourist arrivals to 33 million this year from 37 million previously, citing a slump in the number of Chinese visitors. The tourism industry accounts for approximately 12% of Thailand's gross domestic product. As of August 10, year-to-date tourist arrivals have reached 20.2 million, down 6.9% from the same period last year.
Foreign tourists who wish to convert digital assets into the Baht to pay for goods and services must transit through licensed digital asset business operators and e-money services providers, according to a Finance Ministry statement. Spending through the program is limited to 500,000 baht per month. Those limits, alongside strict requirements for opening new accounts and activating e-wallets, are designed to prevent money laundering, according to Pichai.
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