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The grace period is over. On June 28, 2026, Thailand’s extraterritorial crypto licensing rule came into full force — and the Securities and Exchange Commission moved quickly. Bybit, OKX, and CoinEx are now blocked in Thailand, leaving Thai retail users deciding where they can legally trade.
If you’ve been using any of those platforms, this is not a drill. Accessing them through a VPN won’t make you compliant — it makes you more exposed.
What Changed on June 28
Two Royal Decrees that took effect in April 2025 rewired how Thailand regulates foreign crypto platforms. The core change: any overseas exchange that actively solicits Thai users — Thai-language interface, baht deposits, Thailand-specific promotions — is now considered to be operating a digital asset business in Thailand and must hold a Thai SEC licence.
The grace period for foreign exchanges to either obtain a licence or exit the Thai market ran until June 28, 2026. Bybit, OKX, and CoinEx did neither in time. The SEC issued blocking orders before the deadline, coordinating with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), which now has authority to block platforms without a court order under the Computer Crime Act.
Why Fast Enforcement Now
Previously, blocking a website required a court process that dragged on for months. The second decree gave MDES direct blocking authority for unlicensed digital asset businesses. Enforcement is now fast. Criminal penalties for operating without a licence run from two to five years imprisonment and fines. Those apply to platform operators — but Thai users who keep trading on blocked platforms sit in legally grey territory and risk having funds flagged if AMLO reviews their transactions.
Which Exchanges Are Licensed for Thai Users
As of July 2026, four exchanges hold Thai SEC licences for retail digital asset trading:
- Bitkub — Thailand’s oldest and largest licensed exchange, strong on THB pairs and local bank transfers.
- Gulf Binance — A joint venture between Gulf Energy and the Binance group, operating under a separate Thai entity from Binance.com. Users here get Thai regulatory protection.
- Bitazza — Smaller but fully licensed, with a reasonable range of assets.
- Zipmex — Still licensed but under financial restructuring; use with caution until its situation resolves.
Gulf Binance deserves a clear distinction from Binance.com. Binance.com remains unlicensed and blocked. Gulf Binance is a distinct Thai legal entity — different ownership structure, Thai SEC oversight, local compliance team. They are not interchangeable.
What About Binance.com Users
Binance.com does not hold a Thai licence and actively solicited Thai users through a Thai-language interface. The SEC’s position is clear. Thai users migrating assets to Gulf Binance are moving to a licensed entity. Those who stay on Binance.com through VPN access are not.
The practical trade-off: Binance.com holds significantly more liquidity and token variety than Gulf Binance currently. That gap — liquidity versus legal certainty — is the central question for Thai crypto traders right now.
What This Means for Thai Crypto Investors
The enforcement wave concentrates Thai retail trading volume onto four licensed platforms, which should improve price stability on THB pairs over time. It also makes the five-year capital gains tax exemption — Thailand’s break on crypto profits made through licensed exchanges, running until December 2029 — far more important as a practical differentiator. Profits on licensed exchanges fall under that exemption. Profits on blocked platforms don’t, and they carry an additional compliance problem if AMLO starts auditing digital asset flows.
What to Watch Next
Watch the SEC’s licence approval pipeline. If a major platform gets a Thai licence in the next six months, the competitive picture changes sharply. Also watch whether MDES upgrades its blocking to include VPN bypass detection; the current approach relies on ISP-level blocks, which motivated users work around easily. User-side enforcement is the unresolved piece of this regulatory picture.
