The Bank of Thailand plans to issue baht stablecoin rules in March 2027 and will accept no new money changer licence applications during 2027. Firms wanting to open an exchange business next year must apply between December 1 and 30, with licensing under tougher rules starting in 2028.
Pimpan Charoenkwan, the central bank’s assistant governor for financial markets, said on Thursday, November 5, that licensed money changers will face higher standards matched to each business’s risk level, so they cannot be used to support illegal activity. The bank will bring existing operators up to the new standards first, and the pause applies to new applicants.
Applicants for 2027 can still apply under the current rules in December, with full documentation as set out in the bank’s public guide, at its Bangkok head office or a regional office, according to Xinhua. From 2028 the bank will open two application windows a year, in March and September.
Governor Vitai Ratanakorn told Prachachat Turakij that the planned THB stablecoin would be pegged one to one to the baht and fully backed by assets. The bank extended the second hearing on its principle paper from 10 to 30 days at stakeholders’ request, and Siam Blockchain reported it closes on November 17, with another hearing to follow once the rules are drafted.
Vitai said the coin is meant to let crypto investors who sell Bitcoin or Ethereum hold their money without converting it back into baht in a bank account, instead of using a foreign-currency coin such as USDT. It could later be used for payments, transfers between systems and programmable payments that run automatically when set conditions are met.
The bank will regulate issuers and digital wallet providers separately, and it may limit issuers to about two at first, following Hong Kong and Singapore. Issuers must hold bank deposits covering 100% of coins in circulation, allow one-to-one redemption within one business day, pay no interest, publish coin and deposit figures, and be able to freeze or destroy coins used illegally.
Wallet providers must verify every user’s identity, allow transfers only between wallets that have passed know-your-customer (KYC) checks, keep auditable transaction records and help users when problems arise. They may not serve digital asset businesses based overseas, so foreign residents and visitors could only hold the coin in a verified Thai wallet.
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Vitai said the stablecoin is a payments project, separate from the grey money crackdown, while the bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission check USDT use after finding abnormally high trading volume in Thailand. He put the informal economy at about 48% of gross domestic product (GDP), with 35% counted in GDP and a grey economy of about 13% outside it.
The money changer rules follow other measures against illicit funds, including the extra checks on cash deposits of 5 million baht or more that banks have carried out since November 1. Those checks also cover foreign currency trades at the same 5-million-baht daily threshold, though electronic banking transactions are excluded.
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