Thailand's Supreme Court treats Bitcoin as property under criminal law

what happened

Thailand's Supreme Court has held that Bitcoin qualifies as property under the country's criminal code, according to Crypto Briefing. The judgment, case No. 4929/2569, was issued on October 28, 2026.

The case stems from a 2022 armed robbery on Koh Samui. The attackers forced a tourist to convert about $50,000 into Bitcoin, and the 2.480801 BTC was then handed over to them. At the time, the haul equaled roughly 1.878 million baht. An accomplice's sentence was cut from 15 years to 10 because he cooperated, and the Supreme Court upheld the reduced term.

The appeal argued that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value. The court rejected this, citing its market price, tradability and convertibility into cash, along with a 2018 decree on digital assets. Still, Bitcoin is not legal tender: under Bank of Thailand guidance, it does not share the status of the baht.

why it matters

The publisher sees no direct market impact from the ruling. Still, the precedent gives Bitcoin holders in Thailand more legal certainty and makes it easier to prosecute crypto theft and order asset recovery. Bitcoin traded near $80,000 in late October 2026, according to the same source, so the 2.48 BTC taken in 2022 has risen sharply in value since the robbery.

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