Stock Exchange of Thailand governor urges government to ease ICO regulations and taxes

At the London School of Economics (LSE), the governor of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Prinn Panitchpakdi urged the government of Thailand to ease regulations for startups to increase competition. Panitchpakdi suggested that regulations "can be used to punish wrongdoers but they should still be flexible enough to support entrepreneurs." He emphasized taxes should be lowered for companies working with newly emerging technologies like blockchain technology and initial coin offering (ICO) to provide more freedom to companies to facilitate growth.

"For example, Jaymart Mobile Co, the largest retailer of electronic supplies and mobile phones, launched an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), a type of fundraiser using cryptocurrency, which could raise over 600 million baht. However, the company is required to pay 7% value-added tax (VAT) and 20% corporate tax. In Singapore, such a digital asset law does not exist. The Singaporean government allows startups to innovative products before introducing regulations," Panitchpakdi said.