Srettha Thavisin, a real estate developer and CEO of Sansiri, has been appointed the next Prime Minister of Thailand as the Pheu Thai takes control of the country after a controversial election. Central to Srettha’s campaign has been a promise for a national ‘airdrop’, where every Thai citizen will receive 10,000 Thai baht ($300). The 10,000 baht (THB) would be given to every Thai citizen 16 years and over, and can only be spent within four kilometers of their home, a party spokesperson explained to the Bangkok Post. The airdrop will use a form of national token, not an existing digital asset or cryptocurrency. Vendors will be able to convert it to cash at designated banks.
This project has had its share of critics because of the sheer cost, estimated to be at 500 billion THB ($14.3 billion) and the use of blockchain technology when there are existing digital banking initiatives already in use in Thailand. Udomsak Rakwongwan, the co-founder of FWX.finance, a decentralized derivatives platform, told journalists, While I want to see an adoption of Blockchain here, using blockchain and tokens for this campaign is an overkill. The majority of Thais are already using Paotang, a digital banking wallet tailored for government initiatives. This may be simpler and easier to implement compared with a potentially more complex blockchain.
Udomsak anticipates that the new administration will continue to put forward more lenient crypto regulation which will lead to a surge in Thai crypto projects. He points to Sansiri’s involvement with ICOs, saying, Thailand’s crypto landscape is evolving rapidly.
Srettha and Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of Thailand’s Move Forward Party, which won the popular vote but failed to get their leader nominated as Prime Minister, are both fans of crypto. Pita disclosed that he owns bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), Cardano (ADA) and BNB.