THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is launching the TouristDigiPay scheme to help foreign tourists convert their digital assets to Thai baht for spending during their holiday here this very quarter, which is the peak tourism season, PPTVHD said today (Nov. 6).
The scheme will be tested by SEC and partner agencies over the following 18 months once launched.
In unveiling this project to support the Thai tourism industry, SEC is implementing appropriate risk management measures.
A key measure is preventing money laundering through crypto by monitoring any possible misuse of the digital assets from the time tourists arrive in Thailand until their departure.
The first step is for digital asset and e-money service providers to verify customer identity through Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) processes as set by the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the Bank of Thailand, and SEC.
After service providers have rigorous verified each customer’s documents and biometric data, two wallets can be opened:
– Digital Asset Wallet;
– Tourist Wallet.
After that the source of digital assets is checked to intercept grey crypto using Blockchain Forensics Tools.
For merchants using Merchant QR the spending limit is 500,000 baht/month/account while for general retail merchants this is set at 50,000 baht/month/account.
This limit is consistent with spending by foreign tourists with data over the past year showing this is approximately 5,000 baht a day.
Even so, TouristDigiPay cannot be used to buy products considered to be high-risk for money laundering, such as gold, gems, amulets and antiques, nor pay at entertainment venues.
On their return home tourists who have funds remaining in their wallet should convert their cash to crypto via the service provider who opened their account but this must not exceed the original amount.
CAPTION:
Representative images of the TouristDigiPay project. Above – PPTVHD36, Front Page – Amarin TV
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