Thailand tightens oversight of gold and crypto to curb 'grey money'

Thailand has launched a campaign to crack down on so-called "grey money", tightening oversight of physical gold markets and digital assets in a move reportedly ordered by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, local media said. The initiative, described by The Nation, brings gold bars, online gold platforms and crypto under a single framework and includes plans to establish a national data hub for real-time monitoring and risk profiling.

Charnvirakul said in a Friday meeting at the Ministry of Finance that authorities must address both "modern digital threats" and "analogue" financial crimes and work as "a single, integrated force," according to reports. On the gold side, the Anti-Money Laundering Office was told to lower the mandatory reporting threshold for physical gold purchases; at present only transactions exceeding 2 million Thai baht (about $63,000) are subject to reporting and authorities said criminals have been breaking amounts into smaller purchases to avoid detection.

Regulators are also reportedly considering new business taxes and stricter audit requirements for online gold trading platforms. For digital assets, the government ordered the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission to strictly enforce the Travel Rule, under which licensed crypto asset service providers must collect and transmit identifying information about senders and recipients of certain transactions, particularly wallet-to-wallet transfers facilitated by exchanges.

Key Topics

Crypto, Anutin Charnvirakul, Thailand, Anti-money Laundering, Travel Rule, Gold Markets