Thailand's parliament selected real estate mogul Sretha Thavisin as the nation's new prime minister on August 22. Thavisin is widely recognized for his role as the former CEO and president of Sansiri, one of Thailand's leading real estate developers, with a background that also touches on the cryptocurrency sector.
Thavisin was the sole nominee from the Pheu Thai party, garnering 482 out of the total 747 votes cast in Thailand's parliament. His ascension to power holds potential implications for the country's cryptocurrency industry, as Sansiri has been actively involved in vesting within Thailand's digital asset sector . In April 2023, Thavisin resigned from his post as CEO of Sansiri, a move that was speculated to precede his appointment as Thailand's new prime minister. He also relinquished his 4.4% ownership in Sansiri, which he held at that time.
Sansiri, under Thavisin's leadership, has been a significant backer of major cryptocurrency ventures within Thailand. In 2021, the company participated in a $225 million funding round for XSpring Capital, an investment manager with a crypto-friendly stance. XSpring subsequently launched a comprehensive cryptocurrency trading platform in 2022, with ambitions of becoming one of the top three players in the cryptocurrency exchange market by 2025.
Thavisin's Sansiri has also notably issued its own tokens through XSpring in 2022. Named the SiriHub token, it forms part of an initial coin offering (ICO) backed by real estate assets. This ICO aims to distribute a total of 240 million tokens to the p public by 2022.
Thavisin joined the Pheu Thai Party in November 2022, and in April 2023, the party proposed providing financial assistance to Thai citizens through digital currency if they were to win the election. The amount was specified as 10,000 baht ($285 ) per individual. With Thavisin's The upcoming government expected to commence operations by the end of September, it remains to be seen how his involvement in the cryptocurrency sector could influence Thailand's cryptocurrency policies. In a message on Twitter, Thavisin emphasized his candidacy was rooted in the desire to enhance the nation and its economy, stating, "My enemy is poverty and inequality of the people. My goal is the well-being of all Thai people."
This development follows the Thai cabinet's decision to offer corporate income tax and VAT tax exemptions to companies that issue investment tokens. This move, announced in March, aimed to generate an estimated revenue of 128 billion baht ($3.7 billion) from token offering s over the next two years.
