In the rapidly expanding global bitcoin community, Western biases often dominate the narrative and overlook diverse stories from around the world. One such story is that of Didier Somnuke, a small business owner in the heart of Bangkok, a city acquaintance to welcome 22.8 million international tourists in 2023, surpassing cities such as Paris, London and New York. Although Thailand has saw a massive increase in household debt, which reached 16.37 trillion baht (US$463 billion) or 90.8% of national GDP, up from less than 14 trillion baht in 2019.
Didier Somnukeborn in Yala Provincewhere geopolitical conflict is a harsh reality. Southern Thailand is One of the poorest areas in Thailand. With a poverty rate of 34% compared to the national average of 6%, according to the World Bank, the country has been plagued by instability. Since 2004, this unrest has It claimed more than 7,000 lives and injured 13,500 people.
As a Thai saying goes: “ทวงสิทธิ์ที่จะมีชีวิตที่ดีกลับคืนมา” (Claim the right to a better life). In 2012, Didier left his conflict-ridden hometown for Bangkok, where pursuing 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, taking on a typical 9-to-5 job. For a local migrant, this was a significant achievement. Reflecting on his journey, he remembered his teacher’s words: “When you are old, you will 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 quit his monotonous corporate job after a year and opened a new chapter in his life.
Didier borrowed 50,000 THB (about 1,500 US dollars) from his brother to open a street burger joint. He decided to open a burger business because he believed it was easy to do so with a small investment. Driven by his ambition and inspired by the bustling 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 sole proprietor and his income was less than the salary he earned at his corporate job. He often wondered if he had made a mistake by quitting his job to start a business that generated less income. However, after five years, things started to look up. Sales at the shop started to increase and Didier started hiring employees.
He admitted, “I entered the cryptocurrency market with greed; all I wanted was to get rich quick.” In 2017, he and his friends pooled their resources to purchase three ASIC miners from Bitmain to try and 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 buy those ASIC miners, but he didn’t know how to transfer his bitcoin, so he ended up using a wire transfer.
Reflecting on his early experiences, he recalls: “My first bitcoins slowly turned into shitcoins during the bull market. I was very lucky. I made a 100% profit almost immediately every time I bought something.” Despite having no knowledge of cryptocurrencies, 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, in early 2018, the market crashed and he lost over 1 million Thai baht (almost $30,000), while his initial capital was about 100,000 Thai baht (about $3,000). On top of that, he also lost his shitcoins from the mining pool. He had kept all his shitcoins in custody from the mining pool, and one day when he checked his account, all the shitcoins he owned, worth $10,000, were gone. The notice on the mining website, “Hash-to-Coin,” stated that if the coins were kept with them for more than three months, they would be considered a donation.
He said, disheartened: “I 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 leveraged myself too much.” He stressed that despite his huge financial losses, his girlfriend didn’t abandon him. “My girlfriend was my client. She regularly came to buy burgers. I met her when I was having financial problems during my early days as an entrepreneur. She supported me and said we could get the money back.”
Determined to change his circumstances, he discovered Mr. Piriya on YouTube and started following his live streams on true bitcoin education. This was the moment he began to truly understand what bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are. Enlightened by this unique knowledge, he came to see bitcoin as a savings technology rather than just a trading tool. Within three years, Didier recovered from his losses and emerged stronger. He befriended Mr. Piriya and together they founded a company called Shift to the right Develop Thai-language bitcoin content across multiple social media channels including Our With one of the popular hashtags #siamstr. As a team, they translated “bitcoin-standard-%e0%b8%a3%e0%b8%b0%e0%b8%9a%e0%b8%9a%e0%b8%81%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%a3%e0%b9%80%e0%b8%87%e0%b8%b4%e0%b8%99%e0%b9%84%e0%b8%a3%e0%b9%89%e0%b8%a8%e0%b8%b9%e0%b8%99%e0%b8%a2%e0%b9%8c/”>The bitcoin Standard” and “The Fiat standard” into Thai, both books became bestsellers in Thailand. They organized the first bitcoin Conference in Thailand in 2023 and are now preparing for The next one in September 2024.
Didier now accepts bitcoin as a payment method at his main burger joint, one of four different franchises. He uses Wallet of Satoshi to process these payments. Within a year of implementing this initiative, he has received over 3 million sats in payments, though he initially expected to see more transactions in bitcoin. In his market, some neighboring small business owners occasionally ask him about bitcoin when they see the big bitcoin sign on his storefront. Though they often lose interest once he explains it to them, based on his various failed experiences. Instead, he now focuses his energy on the Internet, where he can have a bigger 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 cryptocurrencies. suggest By 2028, this number will rise to about 17.67 million, representing 25% of the population. During our conversation, Didier claimed that there are about 50,000 bitcoin users in Thailand and speculated that the Thai government could intervene in bitcoin adoption, possibly by mandating the use of KYC wallets because they don’t like monetary systems they can’t control. Worst case scenario, Didier is adamant: he will continue to advocate for bitcoin to his friends. “It’s not an option,” he stated, “it’s the only way to survive.”
This is a guest post by Win Ko Ko Aung. The views expressed are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
