🇹🇭 Thailand Freezes 31K Crypto Mule Accounts — While Prepping Tourist Digi Pay

Double play: crackdown + innovation. Thailand’s SEC is flexing hard on crypto fraud, freezing 31,216 mule accounts worth 229M THB in 2025. At the same time, regulators are rolling out Tourist Digi Pay, a sandbox that lets foreign visitors spend crypto like cash in baht.

⚡ Quick Hits

• ❄️ Mule accounts frozen: 31,216 (229M THB total)
• 🚨 Fraud reports handled (Jan–Sep): 6,354
• 🛑 Accounts closed via coordination: 3,036
• 🛍 Tourist Digi Pay caps:
  • 500,000 THB/month (large retailers)
  • 50,000 THB/month (small shops)
• 📅 Launch: November 2025

🚔 The Crackdown

Mule accounts have become fraudsters’ favorite tool to launder funds and funnel baht into crypto. Thailand’s SEC, working with Bank of Thailand (BOT), Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), and Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), has turned up the heat:

• Platforms now freeze suspicious transfers within 7–48 hours of reports.
• Inter-agency info-sharing stops funds before they leave Thailand.
• Thousands of accounts have already been shut down.

This aggressive enforcement sends a blunt message: crypto crime has no safe exit route in Thailand.

🏝 Enter Tourist Digi Pay

At the same time, Thailand is keeping the welcome mat out for tourists. The Tourist Digi Pay sandbox will let visitors convert digital assets into baht via an e-money app, with monthly limits to keep things safe.

Think:

• A Singaporean tourist pays for dinner in Bangkok by converting ETH → baht instantly.
• A German traveler taps a coffee in Chiang Mai using stablecoins.

Anthony Soohoo, Bangkok fintech strategist:

“Thailand is sending a clear signal: crypto innovation isn’t being banned; it’s being managed.”

🔍 Bigger Picture

Thailand’s strategy is a two-sided coin:

• Enforcement: Freeze mule accounts, block illicit flows, restore investor trust.
• Innovation: Give tourists a frictionless way to spend digital assets, boost local revenue, and push digital payments adoption.

Anek Yooyuen, SEC Deputy Secretary-General:

“Coordination across SEC, BOT, AMLO, and CCIB is key. Our aim is to block illicit flows quickly while providing a sandbox for safe innovation.”

💡 Why It Matters

Thailand is showing the playbook for emerging markets: fight fraud fast, but keep the door open for legitimate use cases.

• Tourists bring money and digital wallets.
• Regulators bring oversight and guardrails.
• Together, they create a crypto-friendly yet compliant destination.

⚡ TL;DR

Thailand froze 31K mule accounts worth 229M THB in 2025 — but is also launching Tourist Digi Pay in November to let visitors spend crypto as baht. Carrot + stick: kill fraud, court tourists.