The central bank of Thailand shall launch a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project during the current month of June, which will include the participation of three independent payment providers and shall involve up to 10,000 users.

Planned to run through August, the CBDC pilot project was originally scheduled to launch in 2022, and while the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has not officialized any plans to launch a nationwide CBDC, the Asian nation’s central bank is determined to benefit from this “pilot to learn”, rather than going ahead with an official pilot launch.

The three entities which’ll act as payment service providers for this project are Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), Siam Commercial Bank and Singapore-based payments service provider 2C2P; partnering with the Thai central bank in the name of putting the nation’s first CBDC test on trial.

Krungsri will enlist up to 2,000 members of staff in the project alongside nearly 100 merchants surrounding the bank’s headquarters. The pilot of Siam Commercial Bank will operate in a similar manner to that of Krungsri’s as the bank intends to involve staff and neighboring merchants as well.

BOT announced their plans of developing a CBDC all the way back in 2018, participating in multiple cross-payment projects alongside other endeavors with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/thailand-launches-retail-cbdc-pilot-with-2-banks-and-singapore-payment-service

https://thepaypers.com/cryptocurrencies/the-bank-of-thailand-launches-a-retail-cbdc-pilot--1263008

https://www.ledgerinsights.com/thailand-digital-baht-cbdc-pilot-underway/

https://beincrypto.com/thailand-central-bank-cbdc-project/