Thailand’s PM Removed, But Crypto Policies Likely to Remain ‘Largely’ Unaffected in Political Uncertainty

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s shock removal from office by a court on Wednesday may not impact crypto rules in the nation, even if some policy implementations may be affected, experts told CoinDesk.

After the verdict, Thavisin said he was unsure whether the next government would continue with his policies, CNN reported. He was removed by The Constitutional Court in Bangkok for breaching ethics rules by appointing a lawyer who had served prison time to the Cabinet.

The ruling Pheu Thai-led coalition will need to nominate a new prime minister, who will be subsequently be voted on by the 500-seat parliament, as a new government comes into place. It is unclear how crypto-related policies could be impacted by this specifically.

“The removal of PM Srettha will have minimal impact on digital asset regulations,” said Tanawat Sutunthivorakoon, the CEO of Bitazza Thailand.

Sanjay Popli, Chief Executive Officer of Cryptomind Advisory and the co-Founder of Cryptomind said “It’s unlikely that the new Prime Minister will have significantly different views on cryptocurrency, given that the ruling party, Pheu Thai, remains in power.”

Last week, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a sandbox for crypto-related businesses. Sutunthivorakoon said the SEC has “consistently supported” the crypto industry for the “past six years irrespective” of the ruling party in parliament.

Thailand features 10th in Chainalysis‘ 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index Top 20 and several crypto exchanges have been issued licenses there.

For some time now, the nation and its regulators have been attempting to find the balance between supporting the crypto ecosystem and preventing fraud. It has allowed institutional investors and very high-net-worth individuals to invest in crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) but it has also said custodians need to have a contingency plan if something goes wrong.

Nares Laopannarai, the President of Digital Asset Association of Thailand said overall crypto regulations should remain unaffected but “PM Strettha’s originally proposed Digital Wallet Policy,” will likely be impacted.

The launch of a Digital Wallet Policy to stimulate the economy earlier this month has already seen “25 million registrations,” according to Laopannarai. The policy includes a 10,000-baht (approx 285 USD) handout upon registration.

“This initiative … may face delays or revisions or even cancelation due to the recent developments,” Laopannarai said.

Popli said the recent appointment of a new SEC director has helped the make the landscape “increasingly” clear and the Sandbox “underscores the country’s commitment to fostering innovation while ensuring robust oversight.”

Read More: Thailand to Block Access to ‘Unauthorized’ Crypto Platforms