Bitcoin was not ruled illegal in Thailand. There is poor reporting and interpretation going on. The Bank of Thailand has no legal power. A few senior members of the bank saying something is illegal does not make it illegal. The Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department are merely departments of the bank, not branches of the legislative government of Thailand.

This is a scenario similar to what happened in 2011 in France: MtGox's bank closed their account saying that a Bitcoin exchange was "illegal/unauthorized". MtGox sued the bank. And courts sided with MtGox and forced the bank to re-open their account: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=41317.0

Same thing here. The Bank of Thailand saying "this is illegal" does not make it illegal. They are just an institution, who does not represent the government, who displays a hostile attitude toward Bitcoin. Nothing more.

Wow thanks for the heads up, I'm suprised more people from thailand haven't spoken up yet to correct the misconception.

Well not really. Bank of Thailand is not comparable to Bank Of America but rather to the Federal Reserve in USA. One does not simply open an account with BOT. Other Thai banks open an account with BOT.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Thailand#Roles_and_Responsibilities

The post (if true) sounds like BOT's assessment of the laws and they "advised" the exchange that Bitcoin is illegal. They probably have the power to make (unenforceable) policy with regards to Bitcoin... that is if it is recognized as currency.

Ok I stand corrected, but BOT has power to treat Bitcoin as currency...  I am not much into legal stuff, but my understanding is that in general Thais do not need to update laws to prohibit new stuff, rather they need to update the laws if they need to allow it.

I tried that—it doesn't work. There's an error.

I've concluded that I'm not fit to read legalese. I located the actual legislation here. A cursory glance seems to indicate that the Bank, or at least officials appointed by the Bank, does indeed have the authority to regulate "foreign currency". Can anyone who is more well-versed in law read this and confirm?

I bet there will be some positive news on this area next month.

Ithink, lots of facts have been masking for years. Not only that. Mining, do something privately cannot be blocked as this is yout wish, a contract unless there is legal statement issued by governments, there is no document mentioning this.

No doubt, but journalism has been declining for decades the lack of original reporting is nothing new.  The core statement remains:

"The ruling means it is illegal to buy and sell bitcoins, buy or sell any goods or services in exchange for bitcoins, send any bitcoins to anyone outside of Thailand, or receive bitcoins from anyone outside the country".

https://bitcoin.co.th/news/

At the conclusion of the meeting senior members of the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department advised that due to lack of existing applicable laws, capital controls and the fact that Bitcoin straddles multiple financial facets the following Bitcoin activities are illegal in Thailand:

Buying Bitcoins
Selling Bitcoins
Buying any goods or services in exchange for Bitcoins
Selling any goods or services for Bitcoins
Sending Bitcoins to anyone located outside of Thailand
Receiving Bitcoins from anyone located outside of Thailand

Nor does FinCEN have ANY ability to make law... but they have every right to offer guidance.  Tell me how that is in any way different.  Thailand's regulating body (the body that regulates all banks) has decided that bitcoin is an illegal currency and will not authorize any of it's banks to trade in it.

In America we have the Department of Treasury overseeing all banks through its FinCEN unit.  I do not see any difference in why we should give FinCEN's guidance any more credence or why we should ignore the guidance of the Bank of Thailand which is the regulating authority on the matter.

Per Wikipedia:

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) was first set up as the Thai National Banking Bureau. The Bank of Thailand Act was promulgated on 28 April 1942 vesting upon the Bank of Thailand the responsibility for all central banking functions. The Bank of Thailand started operations on 10 December 1942.

Sounds just like the Federal Reserve to me.  

Now FinCEN is not part of the Federal Reserve and none of these bodies can make law but they sure can interpret the law and they have.  The Bank of Thailand's opinion is that bitcoin is illegal.  FinCEN's opinion is that bitcoin is money.

As a matter of fact the Bank of Thailand works hand in hand with FinCEN as they are both members of FATF
http://www.fatf-gafi.org/pages/asiapacificgrouponmoneylaunderingapg.html
http://www.fincen.gov/international/fatf/


Now tell me again how FinCEN's opinion is any different than BOT's opinion in terms of how it affects users of bitcoin.  Are you really trying to say that BOT has no authority regarding money and Thailand?

Or are you just jazzed about the misuse of the English word "law" or "legal" in this context?