Thailand’s central bank, the Bank of Thailand, has initiated a pilot project for a retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) within a regulatory sandbox. The project, which was initially announced in August and was set to launch in 2022, has now been brought forward and will involve three payment providers, including Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), Siam Commercial Bank, and Singapore-based payment service provider 2C2P.

The pilot project, which will run until August, will involve up to 10,000 users. Each of the participating organizations has developed an app that includes a wallet and a QR code scanner for selected users. Krungsri will involve up to 2,000 staff members and about 100 merchants located around the bank’s headquarters in the project.

Despite the pilot, the Bank of Thailand has clarified that it does not have any official plans to launch a CBDC and refers to the project as a “pilot to learn”. The bank had previously announced in 2018 that it was developing a wholesale CBDC and has participated in several international projects related to digital currencies.