Srettha Thavisin, the candidate of the Pheu Thai Party, was elected as the next Prime Minister of Thailand after receiving the support of the Thai government. The 61-year-old guy has engaged with the cryptocurrency business because the company he was in charge of was an active investor in the digital asset investment management firm XSpring Capital. XSpring Capital is a company that manages investments in digital assets.
Throughout the years, Thailand has displayed a significant reluctance about the best way to approach the sector; however, this could change under the administration of the current leader.
A Crypto novice but not a Political Novice
Earlier this week, Thavisin was chosen to serve as the 30th Prime Minister of Thailand. He garnered 482 votes out of a potential 747 votes during the election. For him to take office formally, King Maha Vajiralongkorn needs to sign a document he has prepared. Thavisin made the following statement after he was elected with the majority of the vote: "I feel it is a great honour to be elected as the 30th prime minister of Thailand." I want to express my gratitude to every person in Thailand who participated in today's vote, including coalition parties, honourable members of the House of Representatives, and senators. I commit to working as hard as possible to fulfil my responsibilities and improve the lives of the Thai people.
It is important to highlight that Thavisin has limited experience working in the political arena. His background is in business, where he served as the former CEO of the massive real estate company Sansiri. He is familiar with the cryptocurrency industry since his company participated in a $225 million fundraising effort for the digital asset management company XSpring Capital. "As a real estate company, we understand traditional finance is evolving, and the future calls for the de-intermediation between consumer and project finance," he said. "As a real estate company, we understand traditional finance is evolving, and the future calls for the de-intermediation between consumer and project finance." When asked about the investment, Thavisin stated it was the right fit for the company's long-term goals of staying on the cutting edge of innovation in all business areas.
After that, Sansiri spent $45 million to acquire a 15% interest in XSpring Capital and began distributing its own digital currency, which it referred to as SiriHub Token.
Another intriguing fact is that the Pheu Thai Party, which is the party that nominated Thavisin for the position of Prime Minister, has pledged to provide 2,850.00 baht (or 10,000 baht) to every Thai person who is over the age of 16 if it is successful in winning the general election in May. The organization came in second place, receiving 28% of the vote, while Move Forward came out on top, receiving 38%.
The Thai Crypto Community
The industry of cryptocurrencies did not originally pique the interest of the local administration, which instead concentrated primarily on the possible introduction of a central bank digital currency, also known as a CBDC. Additionally, it intended to levy a capital gains tax of 15% on the earnings earned from digital assets' activities.
However, throughout the past few months, Thailand has shown signs of becoming more receptive to the industry. The country has shelved its intentions to tax cryptocurrencies and is mulling over the possibility of imposing regulations on their use in financial transactions. The authorities have also investigated several methods for reducing digital asset fraud, and the shutdown of Meta (formerly known as Facebook) was considered one of the potential solutions.
In general, it will be interesting to see if the future Prime Minister of Thailand would continue the crypto revolution due to his fondness for technological innovation and his previous efforts in this area.
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