In early January, Thai Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira announced a pilot program that would allow foreign tourists in Phuket to use digital currencies for payments.
The Deputy Prime Minister announced the program at a seminar organized by the Marketing Association of Thailand. The aim is to make it easier to pay for large purchases such as houses and to strengthen the local economy.
Chunhavajira specifically mentioned how those who fled the war Ukraine and settled in Phuket could use BTC to buy a house. The process would involve registering with an approved Thai exchange, verifying their identity and then moving the digital currency to a clearinghouse for conversion into Thai baht.
“Those who fled the war between Russia and Ukraine and settled in Phuket may find it difficult to get 50 million baht to buy a house. But paying with Bitcoin can be a much easier process,” said Thai Prime Minister Chunhavajira.
No new laws will be required before the pilot program starts. Everything will work within the existing legal framework, making it simple and easy to use Bitcoin and other digital currencies as cash in Phuket.
Is the original purpose to make a comeback?
Those who have been involved in Bitcoin for a long time know digital gold the story is relatively new. Bitcoin was always meant to be one peer-to-peer electronic cash systemas the extract from the white paper makes very clear.
Of course, thanks to radical and irreversible changes made to BTC by BlockstreamBTC transactions are limited to the type of large purchases mentioned by the Thai Deputy Prime Minister. Phuket tourists will be reluctant to pay for meals and beer with BTC unless they know how to navigate the convoluted mess known as Lightning network.
While BTC will do well for large purchases like houses, the Thai government should also test BSV, which makes small, occasional transactions like paying for a beer or a meal out possible. Thai citizens would also benefit from using one powerful micropayment system.
Anyway, it’s great to see Bitcoin being used for its original purpose—payments. If the Phuket pilot is successful, it will hopefully be rolled out across the country and further afield in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. As the idea of using digital currencies rather than holding them for fiat profits takes root, the most efficient systems will begin to shine.
Sooner or later, governments and their citizens will discover how transparent peer-to-peer payments at low fees can grow their economies, reduce fraud and unleash new business models and opportunities. Pilots like these will get us there, one at a time!
Watch: New age of payment solutions
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