Stripe lands in Thailand

Thousands of businesses in Thailand have been using Stripe over the past year, as part of the beta phase, for testing and development

Payments platform Stripe has launched in Thailand, expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific region. 

The fintech’s platform will be used by Thai businesses to “solve the complex payments issues” in Thailand. 

Thousands of businesses in Thailand have been using Stripe over the past year, as part of the beta phase, for testing and development. 

“Thailand’s digital economy is one of the fastest growing in Southeast Asia. However, moving money on the internet remains incredibly complicated and cumbersome,” commented Tee Chayakul, Thailand country director at Stripe.  

“We want to remove these barriers with financial infrastructure that helps ambitious businesses increase their revenue, automate low-value tasks, and expand internationally.” 

A variety of businesses took part in the beta phase, including an online property platform, a luxury furniture retailer, a holiday resort and an accounting software platform. 

Apiporn Simapornchai, chief technology officer of Baania, the online property platform, said following the beta phase: “I’m excited by Stripe’s launch in Thailand and pleased to see they are supporting many more local payment methods in the region. This will help us reach customers in new markets.”. 

Kridsada Chutinaton, chief executive officer and co-founder of FlowAccount, the accounting software platform, was impressed with “the ease of integration with Stripe’s payments solution”. 

Chutinaton added: “Partnering with Stripe will help more Thai companies simplify their accounting operations and accept payments online easily.” 

Several Stripe solutions will be available in Thailand, including payments, billing and invoicing. For payments, Visa, Mastercard and PromptPay will be accepted. 

To prepare for the roll-out, the California headquartered fintech had to work with the Bank of Thailand, whose assistant governor of payment systems policy and the financial technology group, Siritida Panomwon Na Ayudhya, commented: “The Bank of Thailand supports the provision of digital payment services, which are convenient, safe and serve the needs of customers, enhancing inclusivity of payment services. 

“Stripe’s business launch in Thailand will certainly help support the development of innovation and the wider access of digital payment services for both individuals and businesses.”   

The launch in Thailand furthers Stripe’s reach across the Asia Pacific. Its services are also available in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. 

PayPal, another payment platform active in the market, is currently planning its relaunch in Thailand. Its services were suspended earlier this year for not meeting the regulatory requirements. 

Other payment platforms in the country include local players Omise and 2C2P.  

Image: Stripe

Josh Poyser Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.