Thailand’s next prime minister Srettha Thavisin has crypto history
Thailand’s parliament on Aug. 22 voted for real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin to be the country’s next prime minister. Thavisin is best known as former president and CEO of Sansiri, one of the largest real estate developers in Thailand, which also has some cryptocurrency background.
Thavisin, 60, was the only candidate brought to elections by the Pheu Thai Party, receiving 482 votes out of a possible 747 in Thailand’s parliament.
His victory could potentially have some implications for the cryptocurrency industry in Thailand as his family company, Sansiri, was an active investor in the country’s digital asset industry. Thavisin quit as Sansiri CEO in April 2023 amid speculation that he would be named Thailand’s next PM. He also shed his 4.4% stake in Sansiri at the time.
In 2021, Sansiri participated in a $225 million raise for a crypto-friendly investment management firm XSpring Capital. Subsequently, XSpring launched a fully integrated cryptocurrency trading platform in 2022. The firm plans to become a top-three company in the crypto exchange market by 2025.
Apart from backing major crypto projects in Thailand, Thavisin’s Sansiri is also known for issuing and distributing its own tokens through XSpring in 2022. Called “SiriHub Token,” the digital asset is part of a real estate-backed initial coin offering (ICO) which offered a total of 240 million tokens to the general public in 2022.
The Pheu Thai Party — which Thavisin joined in November 2022 — also previously proposed distributing some money to Thai citizens in case it wins the elections. The party specifically promised to give the country’s citizens 10,000 Thai baht ($285) in April 2023 and send the amount using digital currency.
As Thavisin’s government is expected to assume office by the end of September, it remains to be seen whether his crypto-related background would impact Thailand’s crypto policies.
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Days ahead of the vote, Thavisin took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to stress that he was participating in the elections because he wanted to “improve the country and the economy.” He added:
“My enemies are poverty and the inequality of the people. My goal is the well-being of all Thai people.”
The news comes a few months after Thailand’s cabinet decided to offer tax breaks for corporate income tax and value-added tax for companies that issue investment tokens. Announcing the initiative in March, deputy government spokesman Rachada Dhnadirek said that the government expects investment token offerings to generate 128 billion Thai baht ($3.7 billion) over the next two years.
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The Home Office has lost a Court of Appeal bid to challenge a High Court ruling granting an Eritrean man a temporary block on being deported to France.
The ruling will be a blow to ministers, who had been hoping to make headway with their “one in, one out” migrant returns deal with France.
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Under the deal, the UK can send back any migrant who crosses the Channel illegally in return for accepting the same number of migrants in France who have a valid asylum claim here.
However, only four people have been deported under the scheme so far, including one Afghan individual who was deported to France this afternoon.
The Eritrean man was granted a temporary block on his removal after he claimed he had been a victim of modern slavery.
The government has said up to 50 people a week could be deported under the scheme initially, but it believes numbers would grow and eventually act as a deterrent to those considering making the dangerous journey across the Channel.
Last Friday saw more than 1,000 people cross the Channel to the UK in small boats – the day after the first migrant was deported under the “one in, one out” deal.
The latest Home Office figures show 1,072 people made the journey in 13 boats – averaging more than 82 people per boat. It means the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel has topped 30,000 for the year so far.
Migrants arrive at Dover. Pic: PA
Shabana Mahmood, who was promoted to home secretary in the prime minister’s reshuffle earlier this month, has accused migrants who try to block their deportation of making a “mockery” of the UK’s modern slavery laws.
She has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to end crossings – but the Conservatives have branded the “one in, one out” deal with France “meagre” and have called for their Rwanda policy to be reinstated.
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Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Yet again the courts have stepped in to block a deportation, proving what we warned from the start, unless you tackle the lawfare strangling Britain’s borders, nothing will change.
“This is nothing but a gimmick. Even if by some miracle it worked, it would still be no deterrent, as 94 per cent of arrivals would still stay.”
Meanwhile, Reform UK has promised to crack down on both legal and illegal migration.
Last month, party leader Nigel Farage outlined plans to deport hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants in the first parliament of a potential Reform UK government.
On Monday, he announced fresh policies to reduce legal migration, saying his party would ban access to benefits to migrants and get rid of indefinite leave to remain – the term used to describe the right to settle in the UK, with access to benefits, after five years.
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