An untold story of Bitcoin in Thailand

In the rapidly expanding global Bitcoin community, Western biases often dominate the narrative, overlooking diverse stories from around the world. One such story belongs to Didier Somnuke, a small business owner in the heart of Bangkok, a city known for welcoming 22.8 million international tourists in 2023, surpassing cities such as Paris, London and New York. Although Thailand experienced a massive increase in household debt, reaching 16.37 trillion baht ($463 billion) or 90.8% of national GDP, up from less than 14 trillion baht in 2019.

Didier Somnuke, born in Yala province, where geopolitical conflict is a harsh reality. Southern Thailand is one of the poorest parts of Thailand, with a poverty rate of 34 percent compared to the national average of 6 percent, according to the World Bank, and has been plagued by instability. Since 2004, this disorder has claimed more than 7,000 lives and injured 13,500 people.

As a Thai proverb says, “To have a better life, to have a better life”), in 2012, Didier left his hometown , full of conflicts, to Bangkok, where to pursue higher education was a beacon of hope. for a better life. At the time, Bitcoin and financial concepts were distant ideas in Didier’s universe. Navigating the vibrant streets of Bangkok, Didier completed his master’s degree and joined the workforce, working a typical 9-to-5 job. For an internal migrant, this was a significant achievement. Reflecting on his journey, he recalled his teacher’s words: “When you are old, you have time and money, but you will lack the energy to start a business. If you want to do it, just do it.” With this advice in mind, Didier resigned from his monotonous corporate job after a year and opened a new chapter in his life.

Didier borrowed 50,000 THB (about 1,500 USD) from his brother to start a street burger shop. He chose to start a burger business because he thought it was easy to launch with a small investment. Driven by his ambition and inspired by the vibrant energy of Bangkok, a city that never sleeps. He spent about a year developing the recipe and started the business in 2015. For the first three to four years, he managed everything on his own as a solopreneur, and his income was less than the salary he earned in his corporate job. He often wondered if he made a mistake by quitting his job to start a business that generated less income. However, after five years, everything started to improve. Sales at the store began to increase, and Didier began hiring employees.

He admitted: “I entered the crypto market with greed; all I wanted was to get rich quick.” In 2017, he and his friends pooled their resources to buy three ASIC miners from Bitmain to try to mine Bitcoin and altcoins like Litecoin and Dogecoin. They saw a return on their investment within six months. Didier bought his first Bitcoin in early 2017 to purchase these ASIC miners, but he didn’t know how to transfer his Bitcoin, so he ended up using a bank transfer.

Reflecting on his early experiences, he recalled, “My first Bitcoin slowly turned into shitcoins during the bull market. I was so lucky. I made a 100% return almost immediately every time I bought something.” Despite having no knowledge of cryptocurrency, he gained confidence and became a super shitcoiner, paying very little attention to Bitcoin.

In mid-2017, he learned about leverage and trading. His profits skyrocketed due to leverage. Although luck was not always on his side forever, at the beginning of 2018 the market crashed and he lost more than 1 million Thai baht (nearly 30,000 USD), while his initial capital was about 100,000 Thai baht (about 3,000 USD). On top of that, he also lost his shit coins from the mining pool. He had kept all his shitcoins in mining pool custody and one day when he checked his account, every shitcoin he owned worth $10,000 was gone. The announcement on the mining website, “Hash-to-Coin”, said that if coins were kept with them for more than three months, they would be considered a donation.

He said despondently, “I have lost everything.” But unlike most people, “I didn’t blame Bitcoin. I still see it as the future. I blame myself. I didn’t know anything and I over-leveraged.” He emphasized that despite his heavy financial losses, his girlfriend did not leave him. “My girlfriend was my customer. She came regularly to buy burgers. I met her when I was struggling financially in my early days as an entrepreneur. She supported me and said we could make the money back.”

Determined to change his situation, he discovered Mr. Piriya on YouTube and started watching his live streams of true Bitcoin education. This marked the moment when he began to really understand what Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are. Enlightened by this unique knowledge, he came to see Bitcoin as a saving technology rather than a simple trading tool. Three years on, Didier has bounced back from his losses and emerged stronger. He became friends with Mr. Piriya and together they founded a company called Right Shift to develop Bitcoin content in the Thai language through several social media channels, including Nostr with one of the popular hashtags #siamstr. As a team, they translated “The Bitcoin Standard” and “The Fiat Standard” into Thai, both of which are best-selling books in Thailand. They organized the first Bitcoin Thailand conference in 2023 and are now preparing for the next one in September 2024.

Didier now accepts Bitcoin as a payment method in his main burger shop, one of four different franchises. He uses the Wallet of Satoshi to process these payments. Within a year of implementing this initiative, he received more than 3 million sat in payments, although he initially expected to see more transactions in Bitcoin. At his market, some small business owners in the neighborhood occasionally ask him about Bitcoin when they notice the large Bitcoin poster in his store. Although they often lose interest once he explains, according to his failed experience. Instead, it is now focusing its energy online, where it can have a greater impact on people who are willing to embrace innovation.

In 2022, approximately 8.4 million people in Thailand, representing 12% of the country’s population, used cryptocurrency. Estimates suggest that by 2028, this number will increase to approximately 17.67 million, representing 25% of the population. During our conversation, Didier claimed that there are around 50,000 Bitcoin users in Thailand and speculated that the Thai government may intervene in Bitcoin adoption, potentially mandating the use of KYC wallets, as they don’t like monetary systems they can’t control. At worst, Didier remains determined: he will continue to advocate for Bitcoin with his friends. “It’s not an option,” he said, “it’s the only way to survive.”

This is a guest post by Win Ko Ko Aung. The opinions expressed are entirely our own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.