Koreans say "I am the best at cryptocurrency trading" and Thais laugh...

When it comes to those who are obsessed with the cryptocurrency world, Koreans aren’t even on the list.

If Koreans are mobilized from top to bottom and are passionate about buying cryptocurrencies, then the Thais are the ones who truly speculate in cryptocurrencies and are all-in for life.

And in comparison, Thai people are obviously more mature in mentality.

Many Koreans would jump off a bridge if they lost everything, but many Thais may be in a much better state of mind because they believe in Buddhism, and they are even dreaming of buying at the bottom...

Even though Bitcoin has been halved this year.

Bitcoin has been "halved" this year

Now faced with huge losses, Thai fans in the cryptocurrency circle are actively adjusting their mindsets and starting to "show their skills."

Some people robbed gold shops at gunpoint to make up for their cryptocurrency losses.

Some people lost 97% and could only seek help from netizens on Pantip, the largest online forum in Thailand (the posts used in this article are all selected from Pantip).

Some people complained bitterly, feeling that they were just moths that flew into the fire and could not blame others.

Some people believe that they have fallen into a Ponzi scheme and want to collect more information about victims and unite to resist.

In short, countless ordinary Thais have become victims of the cryptocurrency storm, and they all feel that no one is more innocent than themselves.

But they may have forgotten that it was they themselves who had joined forces to transform Thailand into a "currency country".

The tourism industry collapsed, and the cryptocurrency circle became the "Noah's Ark"

Many Thais may be turning to cryptocurrencies because, after the collapse of the tourism industry, they have few other options.

There are many countries that rely on tourism to drive economic growth, but there are not many countries that rely on tourism to stabilize their economic lifeline. There are even fewer countries like Thailand, where tourism accounts for nearly 20% of domestic GDP and meets one-fifth of employment.

When the tourism industry was booming, everyone would praise Thailand by saying "a huge profit margin". Unfortunately, when the tourism industry was in a downturn, everyone would sigh for Thailand by saying "once upon a time".

Since the epidemic swept the world, the blow suffered by Thailand's tourism industry cannot be described lightly as a "heavy blow".

Global tourists brought Thailand $56 billion in revenue in 2019, but a year after the outbreak of the epidemic, Thailand had lost up to $80 billion.

Before the pandemic, Thailand received an average of 40 million tourists throughout the year, but this number dropped sharply to around 428,000 in 2021.

Even if the relaxation of epidemic control allows the number of tourists in Thailand to rise to 9.3 million this year, it will still be far from the average level of the past.

According to the World Bank's statement in June this year, it will take until 2024 for the number of inbound visitors to Thailand to recover to 24 million, which is only 60% of the previous level.

Comparison of the past and present of the most iconic "Ratchada Train Night Market" in Bangkok, Thailand (the picture below was taken in March 2020) Source: VISION THAI

With fewer tourists, there is less money to spend.

In 2019, international tourists spent a total of 1.9 trillion baht (about US$54 billion) in Thailand, but in the first quarter of 2022, tourist spending dropped sharply to 65.9 billion baht (about US$1.8 billion).

This can also be seen from the financial report of Asia's largest catering company, Thailand's Minor International (MINT). Compared with 2019, many financial data in 2020 and 2021 are not as simple as "cut in half".

Source: Minor International 2021 Financial Report

With less income, it’s hard to keep your job.

According to estimates by the Tourism Council of Thailand, about 3 million employees have completely left the tourism industry from the beginning of the epidemic to the third quarter of 2021. Even if they stay, their income is less than 30% of the original.

Life must go on, so before Thais are willing to sit back and wait for death, they must find another way out.

There are thousands of ways to go, but making money is the first one. Instead of putting money in the bank and earning ultra-low interest that cannot keep up with the inflation rate, Thai people's gambling nature begins to burn.

The cryptocurrency world has thus become the Chosen One.

Judging from the prosperity of the cryptocurrency circle in 2021, it has indeed become the "Noah's Ark" for many Thais, opening its doors to everyone in times of crisis.

Everyone is speculating in cryptocurrencies, and making a living

Data shows that about 10.2% of the world's population owns cryptocurrency. If we look at the countries, Thailand ranks first with a proportion of 20.1%. Among people aged 16-64, one in five people owns cryptocurrency.

The cryptocurrency industry attracts so many people that it is comparable to the tourism industry, which used to be the lifeblood of Thailand's economy.

Moreover, more and more people are not stopping at the periphery, but are gradually becoming active users and are increasingly enthusiastic about breaking into the depths of the cryptocurrency circle.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published a report on the Thai cryptocurrency circle in October last year, which mentioned that in December 2020, there were only 63,000 active cryptocurrency accounts in Thailand. But by October 2021, the number of such accounts had increased fivefold to 311,000. And just one month later, the number of accounts soared to 640,000, about 10 times that of the United States.

And in just five months, from November 2020 to April 2021, trading volume increased by 600%.

In addition, if you look at the age distribution of investors, you will find that the cryptocurrency circle does not only make young people crazy.

3% of investors are under 20 years old, 47% of investors are under 30 years old, and the remaining half is "divided" by people of other ages.

The cryptocurrency craze sweeping Thailand has also evolved into a national movement. After all, madness knows no age, and if you don’t get crazy, you’ll be even older.

Some famous universities have set up special cryptocurrency courses and directly cooperate with Bitkub Capital Group Holdings, the largest blockchain and cryptocurrency company in Thailand. The teachers are all big names in the cryptocurrency circle.

Rangsit University — Thailand’s largest comprehensive university — offers cryptocurrency courses

Jirayut Srupsrisopa (right), founder of Bitkub Capital Group Holdings, Thailand’s largest blockchain and cryptocurrency company, was awarded an honorary doctorate in digital economics by Rangsit University last year.

There are coffee shops that have been transformed into cryptocurrency lecture halls, and the atmosphere is no less than that of exchanges. The boss also organizes training sessions, and occasionally invites teachers to update everyone's knowledge of the cryptocurrency world.

Hip Coffee & Restaurant in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, has 21 monitors to monitor the price changes of various cryptocurrencies in real time.

Even Thai Buddhism is not immune and has launched a special NFT amulet denominated in Ethereum.

Some people have even set up a "Coin Island" where they live and work with cryptocurrencies.

They even want to directly build this utopian world (utopia) into a small sovereign state, named Cryptopia.

Cryptopia

Cryptopia Islanders

The reason why Thais are able to achieve universal participation in the cryptocurrency circle is that, in addition to their personal dreams of simply "going all in", the official level of promotion is the incentive that has pushed the enthusiasm of the people to a climax.

Thai officials directly "intervention"

When the cryptocurrency circle was booming last year, Thai officials came forward to "stand up" for cryptocurrencies.

And the first move was a big one: direct tax cuts.

In May last year, the Thai Ministry of Finance announced that it would abolish the 7% value-added tax on cryptocurrency exchanges by the end of 2023.

In February this year, the Thai Ministry of Finance exempted individual cryptocurrency investors from the 15% capital gains tax.

Looking at the series of operations by the Ministry of Finance, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)'s desire to win has also been aroused.

Last September, the Tourism Authority of Thailand directly stated that it would create its own token (TAT Coin), and also made bold statements, confidently stating that TAT Coin would definitely attract a large number of fans in the cryptocurrency circle and become the latest "killer move" of the Thai tourism industry. For example, foreign tourists can use cryptocurrency debit cards in Thailand, so there will be no "middlemen" to make a profit, and they can avoid fees when paying fees or exchanging foreign currencies.

In short, everything seemed so beautiful at that time. Thailand from top to bottom was immersed in hope, hoping that it would never wake up again.

Of course, not everyone was drunk, some people remained sober.

That is the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC).

In April last year, when Thai officials were operating frantically and public enthusiasm was growing, the SEC had already sensed a hint of unease.

The SEC issued a resolution stating that if ordinary people want to join the Thai cryptocurrency circle, they should have investment experience in cryptocurrencies or at least receive relevant training.

This did not cause much response at the time, perhaps because it would only keep a small number of Thais out of the cryptocurrency circle, and others would not be greatly affected, so they could still barely accept it.

However, the next point makes it impossible for many people to sit idly by.

Because the SEC directly stated that ordinary Thais can invest in the cryptocurrency world, but the prerequisite is that the annual income must reach a minimum of 1 million baht (about 27,300 US dollars).

This piece of news caused a huge uproar in an instant.

Do you know what the average annual income per Thai household is in 2021?

$3728.753.

In the minds of many Thais, 1 million baht is already a life goal.

Therefore, once this 1 million baht "suggestion" is finally implemented, tens of millions of ordinary people in Thailand may be blocked from the door to financial freedom, and even the right to peek inside through the gap may be deprived. How could they agree?

But in fact, the SEC does not want to deliberately make things difficult for everyone. It does so for a reason.

The SEC is worried that the unstable investment style of low-income people may cause more violent fluctuations in cryptocurrencies, making the already turbulent cryptocurrency market even more turbulent.

However, this relatively "big picture" consideration was difficult to gain support in the frenzied market atmosphere at the time. So the Thais shouted for financial democracy while asking the SEC to withdraw the resolution.

No one can stop it anymore, and the Thai cryptocurrency wave is surging.

After Bitcoin hit its all-time high of $69,000 on November 10 last year, more and more people were drawn into it, all eager and yearning: I may soon have a house of my own, and soon be able to do the job I like...

It’s a pity that all of this disappeared like smoke in the blink of an eye.

It's just a dream after all

On June 18, 2022, the dream finally ended.

When Bitcoin fell below $20,000 during trading that day, the bigwigs in the Thai cryptocurrency circle hurriedly called it a "technical adjustment," but it seemed that they couldn't even convince themselves.

Countless Thais had to swallow their anger and have to quickly finish the deal and leave.

As a result, Thailand’s cryptocurrency trading volume dropped directly from a peak of 250 billion baht (about 6.8 billion U.S. dollars) in November last year to 72 billion baht (about 1.96 billion U.S. dollars) in June this year.

In addition, the number of active accounts was halved from 699,000 in December last year to 324,000 in June this year.

The share price of Jasmine Technology Solution, Thailand's number one "mine owner", plummeted 80% in just three months after hitting its peak in April, and its market value of US$10 billion evaporated. Compared with the astonishing 3,000% surge in the previous year, the decline is truly regrettable.

Industries and businesses are struggling to survive, and ordinary people are even more exhausted. There are countless similar posts on Pantip.

Some people went from making 1 million to losing 500,000, and they don’t know what to do next.

Although some people have not invested in cryptocurrencies themselves, they have found that their parents, relatives and friends have lost a lot of money in them.

Although some people are still making money, the profits are almost less than the electricity bill.

Others directed their criticism at the Thai officials who had previously cheered for the cryptocurrency community, questioning why they did not take any remedial measures.

The first hot review below says this:

When he came out, told him to be careful. Now the game is ruined and he says there is absolutely nothing that can be done to help.

After a turmoil, everyone either reflects on themselves, blames others, complains about themselves, or feels resentful. In short, the cryptocurrency world has taught everyone a vivid lesson.

Gambling is human nature?

Will the Thais stop here? It remains to be seen.

But at least it seems that there are many people who are unwilling to withdraw and want to continue to "sleep on straw and taste gall" even if they have lost all their money or even been burdened with huge debts.

Some people are very sure that as long as they choose the right time, one day they will be as wealthy as Chow Yun-fat and light their cigarettes with US dollars.

Fans are even "cheer each other up".

When someone boldly speculated whether Bitcoin would break through $500,000 in the next 10 years, someone thought he was too conservative and directly shouted in the comments, "Bitcoin will rise to $1 million in 2024!"

When someone asked, will you return to the cryptocurrency circle after the storm has subsided, more than one person felt that they still have the gambling nature.

As one Thai netizen quoted La Loubert, the French ambassador to the Kingdom of Siam (the ancient name of Thailand):

The Siamese man loves gambling so much that he is willing to sacrifice himself for the chips, losing his freedom, justice, and the company of his daughter.

In this city, anyone who did not have enough money to repay his creditors had to sell his daughter to pay off his debts, but if that was not enough, he had to become a slave...

There are already many people standing on the edge of the cliff of speculation, including Koreans and Thais, and I don’t know which country will be the next.

Everyone faced the abyss tacitly, jumped, and either flew into the sky or was smashed to pieces.