The Central Bank of Thailand, together with several commercial banks, will begin testing the retail digital baht in a special regulatory sandbox. Testing will last until August 2023.
The project will involve Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), Siam Commercial Bank and Singaporean payment service provider 2C2P. These institutions will give selected users access to an app and wallet for the digital Thai baht, as well as a special QR code.
Krungsri is going to involve up to 2,000 employees in the project, as well as about 100 outlet owners. In total, about 10,000 users will take part in the project, the bankers expect. Sam Tanskul, managing director of Krungsri Innovate, noted that a retail CBDC should function without being connected to the PromptPay payment service.
Initially, the pilot project was planned to be launched in 2022. As for the wholesale digital currency of the Thai central bank, its development began in 2018. Last year, the Bank of Thailand took part in the mBridge project, which was organized by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to explore government digital currencies.
Despite the upcoming testing of the digital baht, the Bank of Thailand has not yet finalized the launch. Earlier, the governor of the Central Bank of Thailand, Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, said that it is better to conduct additional research on the state stablecoin in order to better understand its risks and benefits.
