Yes. Owning and trading crypto is legal in Thailand. The rules are aimed at businesses, not at individual holders. The Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018) requires any company that runs a digital asset exchange, brokerage or dealing business to hold a licence. The Minister of Finance grants that licence on the recommendation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand (SEC). The SEC writes the rules and enforces them. Since April 2025 the same requirement also covers foreign operators that serve people in Thailand. Separate SEC rules stop licensed operators from offering crypto as a way to pay for goods and services.
The short answer by situation
| Situation | Status | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| An individual buying, holding or selling crypto | Allowed. The decree's licence requirement applies to business operators, not to individuals trading for themselves | Emergency Decree B.E. 2561, Sections 3 and 26 |
| Running an exchange, brokerage or dealing business | Allowed only with a licence | Emergency Decree B.E. 2561, Section 26 |
| A foreign platform serving people in Thailand | Needs a Thai licence (since April 2025), except for services the SEC exempts | Emergency Decree (No. 2) B.E. 2568, Sections 3 and 4 |
| A licensed operator helping customers pay for goods and services with crypto | Prohibited since 1 April 2022 | SEC rule announced in SEC News No. 39/2022 |
| Gains on sales through licensed Thai operators (individuals) | Exempt from personal income tax for income received from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2029 | Ministerial Regulation No. 399 (B.E. 2568) |
Legal to hold vs legal to offer services
This difference explains most confusion about whether crypto is legal in Thailand.
Holding and trading
The 2018 decree defines a "digital asset" as cryptocurrency and digital tokens. It then sets licence duties for a "digital asset business operator". Its text does not require a licence for a person who buys, holds or sells crypto on their own account.
Offering services
Section 26 says a digital asset business operator "shall obtain a licence from the Minister upon the recommendation of the SEC". Section 4 names the Minister of Finance as the minister in charge of the decree. The decree lists three business types and lets the Minister add more on the SEC's recommendation:
- Digital asset exchange: a centre or network that matches orders or otherwise lets people trade or exchange digital assets.
- Digital asset broker: a business that acts as a broker or agent in trading or exchanging digital assets for others, for a fee.
- Digital asset dealer: a business that trades digital assets for its own account, outside an exchange.
The SEC's public register now lists licensed or approved operators in these categories: exchange, broker, dealer, fund manager, advisory service, custodial wallet provider and ICO portal. Before using a platform, you can check it against that register or the SEC Check First app.
Penalty for operating without a licence
In the SEC-published translation of the 2018 text, Section 66 sets two to five years in prison and a fine of 200,000 to 500,000 baht. It adds a daily fine of up to 10,000 baht for every day the breach continues.
What the 2025 amendment changed for foreign platforms
The Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses (No. 2) B.E. 2568 (2025) was given on 11 April 2025, published in the Government Gazette on 12 April 2025 and took effect on 13 April 2025. It adds a third paragraph to Section 26. Under that paragraph, an operator that "operates its business outside the Kingdom of Thailand but provides services to persons within the Kingdom" counts as a digital asset business operator and needs a licence. The exception is any service the SEC exempts by notification.
New Section 26/1 lists seven signs that a foreign operator is serving people in Thailand. Any one of them is enough:
- Its service is shown wholly or partly in Thai.
- It uses a ".th" or ".ไทย" domain, a domain in Thai, or a name that signifies Thailand.
- It requires or allows payment in Thai baht, or through bank or electronic accounts in Thailand.
- Its terms say Thai law applies or that disputes go to a Thai court.
- It pays a search engine specifically to make it easier for users in Thailand to reach the service.
- It sets up an office or entity, or hires staff, in Thailand to support users there.
- Any other characteristic the SEC specifies.
The decree's stated reason is that offshore exchanges outside the licensing regime had been used to trade proceeds of technology crime.
For users, the practical point comes from the SEC itself. In an October 2021 warning, the SEC said dealings with unlicensed operators, foreign ones included, "are not legally protected". The same release says that in July 2021 the SEC filed a criminal complaint against a foreign operator. The SEC said that operator had run an exchange business without a licence.
Which Thai crypto rule applies to you?
Answer up to four questions to see which licence, payment or tax rule from this article fits your situation.
Do you run, or plan to run, an exchange, brokerage, dealing, custody or advisory service for people in Thailand?
- Yes, I offer these services → next question
- No, I only buy, hold or sell for myself → next question
Is the business run from inside Thailand?
- Yes, from inside Thailand → You need a licence before you start
- No, from abroad → next question
Does the service show any of the Section 26/1 signs, such as Thai-language pages, payment in baht or through Thai accounts, a Thai domain or name, Thai law in its terms, search ads aimed at Thai users, or an office or staff in Thailand?
- Yes, at least one → You need a licence before you start
- None of them → Check again before serving Thai users
Do you want to use a licensed Thai operator to pay shops for goods or services with crypto?
- Yes → Licensed operators cannot help with this
- No, I only trade or hold → next question
Do you buy and sell through an operator on the SEC's licensed list?
- Yes, a licensed exchange, broker or dealer → Legal, and inside the tax exemptions
- No, or I am not sure → Legal to hold, but without protection or tax relief
Under Section 26 of the 2018 decree, as extended to foreign operators from 13 April 2025, you need a licence from the Minister of Finance on the SEC's recommendation, unless the SEC exempts the service. Section 66 of the 2018 translation sets two to five years in prison and a fine of 200,000 to 500,000 baht for operating without one, plus up to 10,000 baht for each day the breach continues.
Any one of the seven Section 26/1 signs is enough to count as serving people in Thailand, and the seventh lets the SEC add other characteristics. An operator that provides services to persons in Thailand needs a licence even when it runs from abroad, so take Thai legal advice first.
Since 1 April 2022, licensed operators may not support or promote paying for goods and services with digital assets. An operator that sees a customer doing so must warn them and may suspend or end the service. The TouristDigiPay sandbox only converts foreign tourists' crypto into baht; shops are not paid in crypto.
No personal licence is needed. Gains above your original investment from transfers on a licensed exchange, through a licensed broker or to a licensed dealer are exempt from personal income tax for income received from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2029. Transfers through licensed channels have also been exempt from VAT since 1 January 2024.
Owning and trading crypto is still legal. The SEC says dealings with unlicensed operators, foreign ones included, are not legally protected. Gains made outside licensed Thai channels remain assessable income under the Revenue Code, which sets a 15% withholding rate; ask a Thai tax adviser how this applies to you. You can check a platform against the SEC register or the SEC Check First app.
This sorts situations by the rules summarised in the article only. It is not legal or tax advice, relies on unofficial English translations, and does not cover licence capital requirements, the new crypto ETF rules or any later change to the penalties.
Crypto as payment: what is banned
The ban falls on businesses, not on owning crypto. SEC News No. 39/2022 (23 March 2022) says the SEC and the Bank of Thailand agreed the matter needed regulation. From 1 April 2022, licensed operators of every type may not support or promote the use of digital assets to pay for goods and services. The ban covers:
- advertising or offering payment services to shops;
- building systems or tools that make such payments easier;
- opening a digital wallet for paying with digital assets.
If an operator finds a customer using a trading account to pay for goods or services, it must warn the customer. If the customer keeps doing it, the operator must act, for example by suspending or ending the service.
There is one tested exception. The SEC's TouristDigiPay sandbox lets licensed exchanges, brokers and dealers convert foreign tourists' digital assets into Thai baht for spending through e-money services. Each approved operator can test this for up to 18 months. The SEC accepted applications from 25 September to 26 December 2025. The tourist is paid in baht. Shops are not paid in crypto.
Taxes on crypto in Thailand
Income tax on gains
Since 14 May 2018, the Revenue Code has listed two kinds of crypto income as assessable income:
- profit shares or similar benefits from holding digital tokens (Section 40(4)(h));
- gains from transferring cryptocurrency or digital tokens, counted only above the amount invested (Section 40(4)(i)).
Section 50(2)(f) sets a 15% withholding rate on both. (Thai sub-paragraphs ซ, ฌ and ฉ, shown here as h, i and f.)
The 2025–2029 exemption
Ministerial Regulation No. 399 (B.E. 2568) was published in the Royal Gazette on 5 September 2025. It exempts gains from transferring cryptocurrency or digital tokens when the transfer is made:
- on a licensed digital asset exchange;
- through a licensed digital asset broker; or
- to a licensed digital asset dealer.
The exemption covers only the amount above the original investment. It applies to income received from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2029. The regulation's own note describes it as relief from personal income tax. Gains made outside those licensed channels do not get this exemption.
VAT
Royal Decree No. 788 (B.E. 2567) was published on 24 September 2024. It exempts VAT on transfers of cryptocurrency or utility digital tokens made on a licensed exchange, through a licensed broker, by a licensed dealer or to a licensed dealer. The exemption runs from 1 January 2024.
What this means for a user in Thailand
- You can buy, hold and sell crypto. No personal licence is required.
- To keep the legal protection the SEC describes, and to qualify for the 2025–2029 income tax exemption, trade through operators on the SEC's licensed list.
- Do not expect a licensed Thai operator to let you pay merchants in crypto. That use is barred.
- Gains made outside licensed Thai channels remain assessable income under the Revenue Code. Ask a Thai tax adviser how they apply to your case.
- If you plan to offer exchange, brokerage, dealing, custody or advisory services to people in Thailand, from inside the country or from abroad, you need the matching licence first.
What is changing
The SEC keeps adding to the framework. Its latest step is a set of 11 notifications on crypto exchange-traded funds, which took effect on 16 October 2026. A crypto ETF must be a passive fund that tracks the price of the crypto asset it holds, with average net exposure of at least 80% of net asset value to that asset over each accounting year. At first the underlying asset can only be Bitcoin or Ethereum. Fund assets must be held by an SEC-regulated digital asset custodian, and securities companies may not offer margin loans to buy these ETFs.
Limitations: the English texts of Thai laws used here are unofficial translations (only the Thai text has legal force), and this article is general information, not legal or tax advice.
