bitcoin.co.th trading suspended

[Adrian-x]

What's the official policy on human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children for profit in Thailand?

I think it's just a reaction to ฿, as opposed to BTC?

In hindsight the OP should have emphasizes the decentralised combined processing power of the P2P network and the Cryptographic side of Bitcoin, and down plaid it as a medium of exchange.

Those bankers could have fallen asleep, next time get Mike Hearn to explain how Bitcoin technically works, if you want to be ignored by the banking community.

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[canth]

Keep in mind that this comes from a country where there are laws against insulting the King: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A8se-majest%C3%A9#Thailand

"Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years."

I'm not surprised that in a country like Thailand, a body like the central bank wouldn't be ready to endorse and legitimize virtual currencies. They're just taking the safe path and deferring to other officials to make the decision and write some laws that govern these types of transactions. When faced with a precedent setting scenario that might threaten traditional banking and control, pass the buck.

[sukiho]

odd that wired has changed "Bitcoin activities are illegal in Thailand" to "Bitcoin activities should be illegal in Thailand"

[darkmule]

The bankers in Thailand are basically the very same idiots who tanked the entire Asian economy in 1997 by being too stupid to understand how currency works.  While this is disappointing, it really shouldn't be surprising.

Thai bankers can fuck up all of Asia's economy, but they can't say what is illegal or not.

Yes, I didn't mean to imply that I actually agreed with their interpretation.  It still makes it difficult to operate an exchange if you can't get a bank to do transfers for you, though.  In any event, the title of the thread is overblown and perhaps entirely inaccurate.

[Lohoris]

The funny thing here is that posting slander on the internet about the govt in thailand is a real crime. That is a few years jail time and he could get deported.

I don't understand, deported from where?
Did you mean "arrested", implying he already lives there, or what?

[tinus42]

Keep in mind that this comes from a country where there are laws against insulting the King

Let's look at a country I know, France, the supposed beacon of democracy.
Insulting a cop: 6500 EUR + 6 months prison
Insulting the president, foreign presidents or ambassadors: 1 year in prison - though it was only recently removed

Netherlands: making incoherent sounds at the national remembrance in present of the Queen: 6 months jail.

OT: Maybe the Thai's are p'd off that we use the baht symbol ฿ for BTC. 

[lo1]

Sometimes the best way to trigger adoption is to forbid usage.
The french kingdom and Parmentier did the same to foster adoption of potatoes. They claimed it was private to the court, used military guards in the day to keep the fields but they  leaked recipes...
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Parmentier#cite_note-6

[Otoh]

Central bankers & pussies, iow, yes they do make a difference to what companies will risk doing regardless or not of any present guidelines/rules or legislation is apparent:



I hope this brings the debate in to the light in Thailand & sets some precedents for P2P use of virtual currencies in a good way, there are certainly many Thais who are not so enamored by the present gov.

[countryfree]

Bunch of losers.
It doesn't need to be a written law, just imagine Ben Bernanke saying at a dinner that BTC should be illegal. Thousands would loose confidence, and many exchanges would close.

I'm sorry for Thai people, and I guess BTC users will just have to spend their BTC in neighboring Cambodia or Vietnam. Or maybe someone could write to the Thai embassy asking how I could travel there with nothing but BTC in hand?

[jaminunit]

lets get everyone in reddit.com/r/thailand jailed by tipping them all.

[jaminunit]

We need a massive bitcoin campaign on every thai embassy.

Bitcoin stickers and posters on and around every thai embassy
Bitcoin phone calls to every Thai embassy

bitcoin letters sent to every embassy

Bitcoin emails

And they all need to say that we have thousands of dollars but will only spend it in Thailand in bitcoin.

Also praising the king!in all your communications! they love the king. (it's good to be the king')

[johnyj]

They still have the grave memory about their currency been heavily shorted during Asian financial storm, any financial related uncertianty will scare them

[shawshankinmate37927]

Hopefully, we'll have decentralized, peer-to-peer, crypto for cash / cash for crypto exchanges in the near future to make all of this talk of regulating exchanges moot.  Trying to get the blessing of bankers and politicians will ultimately prove to be a fool's errand.  Even if you were to eventually get their stamp of approval at some point, it would only be temporary.  Bitcoin is simply incompatible with their agenda.  You can rest assured they will go to great lengths in order to prevent a large-scale escape from fiat.  The focus should be on taking the exchanges underground and rendering any current (real or imaginary) or future regulations irrelevant.

[niner]

but as I understand, it's not a law, but just conclusion of a bunch of idiots at the meeting.

Exactly.
And no law means it is legal since Thai law like the British law
it derives from states "that which is not prohibited is allowed"
This is not the only guy trading coins in the country and nobody else
has suspended trading.

[Rassah]

Maybe they're upset about Bitcoin trying to steal their ฿ symbol?

[molecular]

They're all using the same source.
The internet hype machine at work.

Wow, there goes what little respect I had for wired.

That answers my implied questions in hardcore thread wether this had any merit.

Thanks.

I think my bullshit detector is broken. Shame on you, wired.

[manfred]

but as I understand, it's not a law, but just conclusion of a bunch of idiots at the meeting.

Exactly.
And no law means it is legal since Thai law like the British law
it derives from states "that which is not prohibited is allowed"
This is not the only guy trading coins in the country and nobody else
has suspended trading.

Easiest way to find out what will happen if someone openly trades some bitcoins. Or better still sent a physical bitcoin as a gift to the King from overseas.

[becoin]

I don't understand why some people are so upset that Thailand central bankers said bitcoin is illegal? Did you really expect something different? I don't. This is just the beginning. More central bankers from other countries will follow.

Apparently, many of you forget that when it comes to money the central bankers are the law. The law is what they say is the law! If it was any different then Ben Bernanke would have already been in jail for printing out 85 billion counterfeit dollars every month.

[becoin]

There is no evidance they said that.

Neither there is evidence they didn't. What would be the interest of OP without any reason to shut down their bitcoin echange in which they've invested heavily?

[darkmule]

They still have the grave memory about their currency been heavily shorted during Asian financial storm, any financial related uncertianty will scare them

What they should have learned from that is that government currency manipulation can lead to disaster.  After all, the reason it was shorted was that it was entirely predictable the price would crash, yet the government insisted on artificially fixing the exchange rate to a price of their choosing in relation to USD.  The rest of Southeast Asia's economies went down like dominos and with them, the Asian economy in general and a good chunk of the entire world's economy.

Now, even if the OP has exaggerated, if he is at least telling the substantive truth about what the bankers are saying, they are creating yet another mess just by expressing unfounded opinions recklessly.  (OP may be guilty of that bad habit himself.)