Good day everyone,
I hope you are all well and had an excellent week, welcome to CryptoGod-1’s blog on all things crypto. Today I will be looking as an interesting bit of news which emerged from Thailand, where elections for the role of Prime Minister has seen the leader of the opposition promising a windfall to voters if he is elected.
Airdrop Promise in Return for Votes?
In Thailand, the real estate mogul Srettha Thavisin, who is running in the elections to become the countries next Primer Minister, announced on Wednesday the 5th of April 2023 that he is promising a crypto airdrop of 10,000 baht ($300) in digital currency to anyone 16 or over should his Pheu Thai Party win in the elections.
The announcement was made in the heavily populated central Thai province of Nonthaburi, and it is claimed by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai's chief adviser on public participation and innovation, that the initiative is part of a policy which will see the party backing blockchain based projects. Apparently these will be designed to promote Thai based products abroad and assist in the introduction of digital currencies into Thailand.
The airdrop will have certain restrictions, such as the requirement for it to be spent within a 4 kilometre community radius and have an expiry date of six months after it has been distributed. The idea is that it will put money back into the local communities and economies to help develop the economy, while also aiming to make Thailand an Asian fintech hub.
The candidate, Srettha Thavisin, explained
“Our country has been economically bruised over the last eight years, with less income and more expenses for the people. The current government has been feeding IV drips with small money handouts. That’s not the right way and doesn’t stimulate the appropriate and right economic growth.”
Source of the Airdrop Money
Questions have been raised over the source of funding for this airdrop, with critics slamming the initiative for lacking transparency. Many are calling it a 'vote-winning gimmick' and some have noted there is no clear source to cover the outlay of such an airdrop. According to Waiwit Thongthongkham, a commercial bank employee, people will jump at the chance of 'free money' from the government, but they will fail to ask the critical questions of where the money came from.
The existing ruling party in Thailand is the Palang Pracharath Party which are led by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. He is a former chief of the military junta which ruled over the country after a coup in 2014. Many have pointed out that it is hypocritical of the Pheu Thai party to put forth such an initiative, seeing as they have long been critical of a policy by the Prayut government regarding a state welfare scheme for poor elderly people.
A minister within the ruling party, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, claimed the budget required for such an airdrop would run to 500 billion baht ($15 billion) if every citizen within Thailand, roughly 50 million Thais. He also noted how the creation of a national digital currency would be a complicated and difficult process, as it would have implications for the nations security and financial system, therefore claiming he believes the announcement to be nothing more than a marketing gimmick.
Asian Crypto Hub Race
Thailand are just the latest nation to express a desire to become an Asian Fintech hub, with more and more Asian countries pushing to become more crypto friendly nations. The hope is that in doing this they will attract more crypto firms through their friendly environment, and thus become a global crypto hub.
Within Singapore, the Monetary Authority have been working with the police to create a system with lenders in the nation to refine their approach in terms of onboarding crypto service providers.
Hong Kong have also been aggressively pushing with their plans to become a global crypto hub. Officials in the nation have been planning a meeting between crypto companies and bankers in a bid to ease financing for the sector. In doing so they hope this would help crypto companies to tackle various difficulties which many of the companies face when trying to create corporate banking accounts. A number of banks within Hong Kong, primarily Chinese state-owned ones, Bank of Communications, Bank of China, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, have began to offer services to the local crypto firms or at the minimum have made inquiries with them regarding financing.
Taking all of this into account, Thailand has major competition when considering the crypto hub space, as nations within the region such as China and Japan are also likely to push towards this status also. Getting in early with the correct policy, attitude, and environment could be the key to emerging as the victor in terms of the Asian Crypto Hub race.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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