Bitcoin Valued at 1,878,000 Baht in Robbery Case, Thailand’s Supreme Court Rules
Key Facts
Thailand’s Supreme Court ruled that bitcoin a victim was forced to transfer has value and can be possessed, and constitutes property in a crime against property, according to a summary of the judgment published by Bitcoin Addict. The decision concerned a robbery on Samui Island, not a general ruling granting bitcoin legal tender status. The court upheld the defendant’s conviction and 10-year prison sentence. It also upheld the order to return the value of the amount to the victim, according to the source’s account of the case. The outcome places the digital asset’s value among the facts of the robbery tried in court, without extending the ruling to general investor protections.
The events date to 15 September 2022, when the victim was assaulted at a café on Samui Island and forced to transfer bitcoin, according to the case summary. The victim had exchanged 50,000 U.S. dollars for 2.480801 bitcoin before the transfer. The court valued the amount at about 1,878,000 Thai baht at the time. Those figures form the basis for estimating what the victim lost in the case, not a fixed general price for bitcoin. The court said the loss was at least equal to the value of the amount transferred.
The court found that bitcoin has a market price, can be converted into cash when buyers are available, and can be possessed by individuals, according to the judgment summary. It concluded that these characteristics made the transferred amount property for purposes of a crime against property in this case. The judgment stated, as quoted by the source: "The bitcoin that the victim was forced to transfer has a price and can be possessed; therefore, the transferred money constitutes property." The court tied its assessment of the loss to the value transferred from the victim, not to any claim that the digital currency is a legal means of payment. That distinction defines the scope of the decision as reported in the case.
The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that reduced the original 15-year prison sentence by one-third, to 10 years, after deeming the defendant’s defense conduct helpful, according to the judgment summary. The Supreme Court left the conviction and sentence in place, as reported. The ruling thus both treated bitcoin as property in the robbery and upheld the sentence in the case. The summary does not say the court established a general legal status for the digital currency beyond this dispute. Nor does it attribute to the ruling a regulatory aim or a promise of comprehensive protection for cryptocurrency holders.
This characterization remains distinct from treating bitcoin as money that must be accepted for debt repayment; the judgment summary said the Bank of Thailand does not consider cryptocurrencies to be legal tender. The summary also said their prices fluctuate according to supply, demand and speculation. The court, by contrast, found that a market price and the ability to convert bitcoin into cash when buyers are available were sufficient to establish value and possession in the case before it. The ruling therefore addressed the nature of the asset in the robbery and the assessment of the victim’s loss. The source’s account does not state how the decision could affect other cases.
In market data reported by EL7, bitcoin closed at 81,341.96 dollars on 28 October 2026, compared with 80,909.77 dollars on 27 October. The figures show closing prices on two consecutive days and do not link the price movement to the ruling. In a separate development in Thailand, rules for cryptocurrency asset exchange-traded funds took effect on 16 October 2026, according to a correction to the first draft. The regulatory rules remain separate from the criminal case involving a bitcoin transfer under coercion. The published judgment addressed only the asset’s value and possession in the disputed crime against property.