Thailand’s former prime minister urged the southern Asian country’s government to consider adopting stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. The political heavyweight also recommended legalizing online gambling to increase government revenue.
Speaking at an event in Bangkok on Monday, the politician implied that online gambling could attract approximately 100 billion baht($2.89 billion in annual revenues.
The sentiments came hours after the Thailand cabinet approved a draft law to legalize casinos. Thaksin said the government was devising new measures to control access to and tax revenue from online gambling.
The former prime minister specified that online gambling has 2 to 4 million Thai users. He added the online gambling industry made gains and losses of approximately 500 billion per year. He suggested that if the country could tax 20% of the net profits or losses, then the country would achieve more than 100 billion per year.
Thaksin Shinawatra urges Thailand government to adopt a friendlier crypto approach
Thaksin-led governments have previously pushed for legalizing most forms of gambling to boost tourism and increase employment. The successive governments opined that large sums of money were being lost in the gambling industry, which could potentially bring the state more revenue.
The official added the government was working on a system enabling online gaming. He said the system would prevent underage use and identify gambling addicts. “We would have like a passport to control who can play,” the former prime minister said.
The former Thai prime minister has cited U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s bullish stance on digital assets.
In addition, Thaksin praised Paul Atkins’s appointment as head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and recommended that the Thai SEC adopt a more digital approach that would allow stablecoin trading.
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