What is the status of cryptocurrencies under Thai law? Can I use cryptocurrency coins to buy anything in Thailand?

The Currency Act B.E. 2501 Section 9 stipulates that no person shall make, issue, use or put into circulation any material or

token as money except with permission from the Minister of Finance.

To date, as there is no permission from the Minister of Finance to regard any cryptocurrency as a currency, cryptocurrency coints are still not considered money by Thai law.

So, what are they?

The Civil and Commercial Code Section 137 defines that things are corporeal objects, and Section 138 defines that properties include things as well as incorporeal objects, which are priceable and appropriable.

As cryptocurrencies are incorporeal (intangible), priceable and appropriable; according to the definitions, they should be regarded as properties, but not things. Please note that there is no Supreme Court precedent judgement to confirm this, and the Supreme Court has regarded electricity, which also seems to be incorporeal, as a thing, owing to the fact that electrical sparks can be seen and touched, pursuant to Supreme Court Judgement 877/2501 (Big conference).

In short, a cryptocurrency is a property, but not money.

What does it mean? It means you cannot claim “I owed you 700,000 baht, which was equivalent to 1 bitcoin. As I’ve transferred 1 bitcoin to you, I’ve already paid the debt.”

However, if you have a contract with a landlord that “I’ll give you 1 bitcoin in exchange for a permission for me to use your house for my residence for 3 years.”, this will work. Change “1 bitcoin” to “20 tons of rice” and you’ll get an idea. It’s a bartering agreement.

What if you want to use bitcoin to buy a real estate in Thailand?

This will be a topic of our next post, so follow us for a notification.