THAILAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Wongsakrit Khajangson, Panupan Udomsuvannakul, Koraphot Jirachocksubsin and Pitchaya Roongroajsataporn, Chandler Mori Hamada
ers in the Thai fintech industry. Their business operations and services can now be conducted or provided through their online platforms rather than physical branches. Other than financial service providers, a number of new players are entering this area, most of whom are backed by venture capitalists and as start-ups that co-operate and partner with major social platform business operators. This can also serve as an alternative solution for foreign financial service providers facing certain capac - ity limitations or stringent qualification require - ments under Thai law. Digital Assets In 2018, the SEC recognised digital tokens and cryptocurrency as digital assets. Business operators in this sector are categorised into two groups, as follows. Primary market The business operator in the primary market can be either: • an ICO issuer looking to raise funds by issu - ing coins; or • an ICO portal providing token digital system services. As of the end of 2024, four ICO issuers have received SEC approval in Thailand. Real estate- backed and project-backed digital tokens have been issued. For the first and third ICO projects, the token-holders are entitled to receive revenue shares from the revenue streams of the underly- ing assets of the tokens. Secondary market In the secondary digital assets market, service providers related to digital assets that are cur -
rently recognised by Thai regulations and super - vised by the SEC are as follows: • digital asset exchanges;
• digital asset brokers; • digital asset dealers;
• digital asset advisory services; • digital asset fund managers; and • digital asset custodial wallet provider. Digital Lending
Digital lending is an important platform that financial service providers use to reach new retail customers, eliminate physical limitations, and facilitate business activities with customers. Many financial service providers, especially per - sonal loan providers, are interested in expanding their online services. Some financial service providers have chosen to co-operate with social platform operators in pro - viding digital lending services to the platform’s customers, and vice versa, rather than develop their own (online) platform and obtain licences. Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms There are few players in the peer-to-peer lending market due to Thailand’s lack of information and precedent cases. Peer-to-peer lending platforms are electronic platform services that link lenders and borrowers. The platforms’ role also includes facilitating loan contracts and carrying out fund transfers and repayments between the parties. According to the BOT, one peer-to-peer lending service operator has obtained a licence to oper - ate its business from the MOF. Additionally, two operators are testing their systems in the BOT regulatory sandbox as of November 2024. Crowdfunding Both equity and debenture crowdfunding exist for private and public limited companies through
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