USDT isn’t banned in Thailand: since 16 March 2025 you can buy and sell it on exchanges licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But in 2026 it is under close watch. The Bank of Thailand sees stablecoins as a possible channel for grey money and receives data on USDT trades from the SEC. The SEC, for its part, has approved the Travel Rule (sender and recipient details for every transfer from 27 February 2027) and is preparing a limit on stablecoin deposits and withdrawals: 5 million baht a day. Paying for goods and services in Thailand with USDT is still not allowed.
How it started
On 13 January 2026, Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn told the KKP Year Ahead seminar that about 40% of USDT sellers on Thai platforms are foreigners, and that the regulator is looking at the crypto market as a channel for grey money. Two weeks later he added that USDT makes up 52% of all crypto turnover in the country. There is no separate Bank of Thailand document on USDT, though: these are statements, not a new rule.
An important detail: crypto exchanges are regulated by the SEC, not the Bank of Thailand. Since the end of January the SEC has been passing data on USDT trades to the central bank, which matches it against its own and hands anything suspicious to investigators. In August the SEC named one of the risk indicators: USDT is bought and immediately withdrawn, or it arrives from an anonymous foreign wallet and is sold straight away. That alone isn’t a violation, but together with the volume, frequency and the recipient’s address it is grounds for a check.
What has already been decided
The Travel Rule from 27 February 2027. Every crypto transfer through a Thai platform will carry the sender’s and recipient’s details, and when withdrawing to a personal wallet you will have to confirm it’s yours. Platforms keep this data for five years.
Stablecoins are allowed, but not as money. Since 16 March 2025, USDT and USDC have been on the list of cryptocurrencies that can be traded on licensed exchanges. You can’t use them to pay for goods and services in Thailand, and since 1 April 2022 platforms have been banned from helping with such payments.
Unlicensed foreign exchanges are outside the law. Since 28 June 2025, Bybit, OKX, CoinEx, XT.COM and 1000X have been blocked in Thailand, along with their P2P sections.
What is still in draft
From 10 to 25 September 2026 the SEC consulted on rules for stablecoins. The main points of the draft:
- stablecoins can only be transferred between your own accounts and wallets;
- deposits and withdrawals through foreign platforms and personal wallets are capped at 5 million baht a day per person at each Thai platform, separately for deposits and for withdrawals; money above the limit may be frozen; there is no limit between Thai platforms;
- transfer volumes must match the customer’s income, otherwise enhanced checks apply;
- over-the-counter deals with brokers and dealers only for 3 million baht or more.
The rules take effect 60 days after the final version is published; when that will be is not yet known.
Could your account be frozen?
Thai rules contain no direct ban on private P2P exchange between individuals. The risk lies elsewhere. Since 13 April 2025, under the technology crimes decree, a bank or crypto platform must suspend an account or wallet if the Center for Prevention and Suppression of Technology Crimes reports a link to fraud. If you sell USDT privately and get paid with a fraud victim’s money, your bank account can be frozen. We covered how this happens and how to avoid it in the article “P2P in Thailand: how to avoid someone else’s scam and a frozen bank account”.
If you’d rather not deal with counterparties at all, there’s our service: USDT to baht exchange in Pattaya, with a clear rate and one manager instead of a list of ads. (Site in Russian.)
What to keep to hand
Your crypto purchase history, exchange statements and proof of income: the SEC draft explicitly requires transfers to match income. If a large transfer from abroad, the proceeds of selling digital assets, lands in a resident’s account, then since 29 December 2025 the bank has required documents on where the money came from for amounts of $200,000 or more. More in the article on currency control. No tax is paid on crypto sales on Thai licensed platforms until the end of 2029: the conditions of the exemption.
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