a large garden with Doi Inthanon and a bridge

After failing to attract any meaningful number of cash paying visitors, thanks in part to insane initial visa requirements and lengthy quarantines which remain in place to this day, Thailand is shifting focus.

While future plans to remove quarantine for vaccinated travelers are reviewed, Thailand is giving up on cash and credit card paying tourists, and is desperately trying to attract cryptocurrency fans, specifically those from Japan for the present and future of tourism.

After a partnership with Tinder, this isn’t even the strangest travel pivot the one of a kind country has aimed for, but it could be one of the best.

a landscaped garden with Doi Inthanon and a pond

Thailand Seeks Cryptocurrency Travelers

Thailand is working with local businesses and tourism providers to enable crypto payments across more and more touch points. The Bangkok Post reports Thailand is actively engaged in promotions to lure in wealthy cryptocurrency holders, such as those with large bitcoin supplies.

The news comes fresh on the heels of bitcoin being responsible for 20% of sales for a leading private jet membership. Quoted in the Bangkok Post, Tourism Authority Of Thailand Governor, Yuthasak Supasorn, stated…

“If we can prepare the country for the cryptocurrency market, it will help attract more opportunities from high-spending tourists, especially the young and wealthy generations,”

Tourism Authority Of Thailand

So what can Thailand do? For a start, get local hotels to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Large scale businesses have resisted the trend to accept crypto, but as potential clients holding crypto continues to grow, and demographic data shows that they tend to spend more than the general public, it’s getting harder to ignore.

boats in the water with a group of boats

Thailand even specifically mentioned trying to lure Elon Musk, the Tesla founder and early adopter of cryptocurrency. For now though, measures are aimed at attracting regional travel from Japan, which is ahead of the global curve in the new currency.

It’s a fascinating future for travel as new forms of payment become valid, and one day the checkout experience may look nothing like the present. If Thailand can successfully create the best destination experience for crypto fans, which could even include Thai Airways accepting payment via bitcoin, this wild idea may prove Thailand’s best.

Gilbert Ott

Gilbert Ott is an ever curious traveler and one of the world's leading travel experts. His adventures take him all over the globe, often spanning over 200,000 miles a year and his travel exploits are regularly...

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5 Comments

  1. Scrap the quarantine, testing and insurance requirements and keep the bars open and tourists will be back just like that. Most of us don’t have cryptocurrencies.

  2. Using bitcoin or other cryptocurrency is like accepting cash, credit cards or wire transfers. Just a different form of payment.
    Does Thailand think Elon Musk would not find a card or cash, if he wanted to visit the country?
    The reason for no international tourists is that people have to quarantine, get insurance, etc.

    Finally, how many people own crypto exclusively? Especially, when the currency can increase or drop by large percentages in a short time.

  3. Have atm that redeem bath for bitcoin to start.
    Accept to give fiscal residency to anyone staying for over 6 month and waive capital gain tax on crypto.
    Develop a flexible but secure legal framework to allow crypto exchange to operate in Thailand.
    Thailand has no electricity surplus as 65% is natural gas so no cheap electricity for miners.

  4. Utilizing bitcoin or other mechanized sorts of money takes subsequent to suffering cash, charge cards, or wire moves. Fundamentally a substitute kind of part. Does Thailand figure Elon Musk would not discover a card or money in the event that he expected to visit the country? The guard no overall explorers is that individuals need to separate, get security, and so on At last, what number of individuals own crypto solely? Build up a flexible in any case secure bona fide system to permit the crypto trade to work in Thailand.

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