Thailand's central bank moving forward with 1:1 baht-backed stablecoin plans

The Bank of Thailand is preparing a plan for a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Thai baht, with a public hearing on the proposal expected before the end of 2026. Governor Vitai Ratanakorn explained plan details at the “Capital with Purpose” conference hosted by efinanceThai.

The planned stablecoin will not be a central bank digital currency, as it would be issued by regulated private entities and not the Bank of Thailand itself. Every token in circulation would have to be fully backed by baht reserves held in well defined accounts at licensed financial institutions, according to the Bangkok Post.

In the first phase, only banks and financial institutions would be allowed to use the stablecoin, and it would work purely for settlement purposes. Other use cases for the general public would come afterwards, pending evaluation.

Bank of Thailand plans backed by experimental sandbox data

The Bank of Thailand’s plans are not sudden and come from a well known foundation. The central bank launched a Programmable Payment Sandbox in 2024 to test baht-pegged digital units in a controlled environment, and later expanded in December 2025 to allow even more experimentation.

The structure of the regulation in the proposal for this new stablecoin directly draws on data from those sandbox trials, giving the central bank real operational experience to use in creating the rules governing this baht-backed stablecoin.

Ledger Insights also reported that the BoT has signaled interest in extending stablecoin use into carbon credit markets and green financing, where the use of blockchain settlements could reduce the limited clarity plaguing carbon trading.

Thailand to tighten FX enforcement

BoT Governor Ratanakorn reiterated the central bank’s interest in reinforcing Thailand’s foreign exchange controls during the conference. Personal QR code payments within Thailand must be denominated in baht, the governor said, and renminbi-denominated transfers through Alipay and WeChat Pay are not allowed in the Thai market.

Between February 2025 and May 2026, regulators suspended about 5,000 accounts used for peer-to-peer renminbi transfers through those platforms. Ratanakorn warned that payment service providers processing transactions in currencies other than the country’s baht face fines, suspension, or a removal of their operational licenses.

The governor also addressed the growing number of institutions offering retail foreign exchange trading, stating the central bank has no plans to license speculative forex activity. Providing settlement services for such trades could violate Thailand’s Foreign Exchange Control Act of 1942, carrying penalties of up to 200,000 baht in fines and three years’ imprisonment.

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