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Thailand Government Declares Bitcoin Illegal

Posted by timothy on from the money-with-government-that's-unheard-of dept.

hypnosec writes that the government of Thailand "has declared Bitcoin illegal following which all trading activities related to the electronic currently have been suspended indefinitely. Through a message posted on its website, the Bitcoin Co. Ltd. has said officials of the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department cited absence of applicable laws, capital controls "and the fact that Bitcoin straddles multiple financial facets" as reasons because of which the virtual currency is illegal. This ruling implies that activities such as buying & selling of Bitcoins, buying or selling any service in exchange of Bitcoins, sending Bitcoins to anyone located outside of Thailand, and receiving Bitcoins from anyone outside of Thailand are illegal. This has forced the company to indefinitely suspend operations."

4 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Rule of Law by niftydude · · Score: 5, Informative

    In a country where insulting the king carries a 10 year penalty, as far as the king is concerned, the concept of Rule of Law essentially means: I rule, you follow the law.

    --
    You can never know everything, and part of what you do know will always be wrong. Perhaps even the most important part.
  2. TFA by Meneth · · Score: 4, Informative

    At the conclusion of the meeting senior members of the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department advised that due to lack of existing applicable laws, capital controls and the fact that Bitcoin straddles multiple financial facets the following Bitcoin activities are illegal in Thailand:

    • Buying Bitcoins
    • Selling Bitcoins
    • Buying any goods or services in exchange for Bitcoins
    • Selling any goods or services for Bitcoins
    • Sending Bitcoins to anyone located outside of Thailand
    • Receiving Bitcoins from anyone located outside of Thailand

    Based on such a broad and encompassing advisement, Bitcoin Co. Ltd. therefore has no choice but to suspend operations until such as time that the laws in Thailand are updated to account for the existance of Bitcoin. The Bank of Thailand has said they will further consider the issue, but did not give any specific timeline.

  3. Re: This has forced the company to indefinitely su by slashmydots · · Score: 4, Informative

    I was thinking the same thing. There are no Thailand-based bitcoin companies at all. And they say "trading activities related to the electronic currently have been suspended indefinitely." Um, no, it's encrypted and mostly unblockable. So unless they inspect every computer and remove the bitcoin client software, they can't block it.

    I think the BS news that they're puffing up is that the Bank of Thailand is no longer accepting electronic fund transfers from the bitcoin exchanges. As for "stopping trading or use" all I have to say is lol, no.

  4. Re:"Bank of Thailand" != "Thailand government". by cgt · · Score: 4, Informative

    Bank of Thailand is the central bank of Thailand. Bank of America is not part of the US government.