LEGAL CURRENCY STATUS OF DIGITAL CURRENC BY THE BANK OF THAILAND

Abstract

The study mentions about the theory of being the currency of the government and CBDC as a digital currency issued by the Bank of Thailand in the analysis of legal basis of CBDC in the public law framework under the Currency Act B.E. 2501 and Bank of Thailand Act B.E. 2485. The lack of clear legal basis to issue CBDC it's a legal problem  causes financial risk and unreliability for the Bank of Thailand. Studying about money as a currency that serves as legal tender for all debts, after the theory analysis, can be summarized as follows. First, the Bank of Thailand Act B.E. 2485 doesn’t allow the Bank of Thailand to issue CBDC for general population. Second, based on the previsions of the Currency Act B.E. 2501, the “currency” doesn’t include CBDC and the Bank of Thailand is not authorized to issue CBDC. The study will present the CBDC fundamental law analysis by comparing to the foreign law aspect from The Bahamas, Jamaica and People’s Republic of China to conclude the idea of using CBDC as a medium of exchange and to propose an idea about money, under the money status theory, can serve as legal tender for all debts. By applying the theory to CBDC and supposing that CBDC is used as a medium for exchange, the government should have the legal previsions to make CBDC a currency that serves as legal tender for all debts to ensurethat CBDC issuing and management are legitimate.