Anusorn to Propose Financial Committee Solutions to Combat Dirty Money and Money Laundering
A Thai lawmaker proposes sweeping financial reforms to combat money laundering and shadow capital networks that have made Thailand a global hotspot for dirty money, with new data systems and crackdowns on shell accounts among the key measur
On May 24, 2026, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anusorn Thammjai, Bangkok MP from the Pheu Thai Party and Vice Chairman of the Finance, Banking, Financial Institution and Capital Market Committee, revealed that Thailand's financial and business sectors have become targets for shadow capital groups and illegal dirty money used as money laundering channels. Weaknesses stem partly from systems, mechanisms, and laws failing to keep pace with shadow capital groups' transaction innovations, and partly from weak law enforcement and corruption by those in power. Additionally, financial technology, digital finance, and cryptocurrency enable illegal transactions and money laundering to evade regulatory detection.
Shadow capital has deep roots and dramatically expanded its role and transactions since 2017, roughly two years after the coup, until Thailand earned the label "money laundering paradise" similar to some Latin American countries. Thailand ranks among the world's top 10 countries for shadow capital and money laundering problems, with these groups gradually infiltrating state power. Despite Thailand having anti-money laundering laws, enforcement is ineffective, officials are insufficient and unprepared for digital-era criminal operations, allowing dirty money to flow through diverse channels and methods.
Fraud data through the financial sector in 2025 and the first quarter of this year shows hundreds of thousands of cases with damage valued in tens of billions of baht, with conditions worsening. This has created capital flight, stalled foreign investment, and surging dirty money flows. Current shadow capital networks have built a large-scale money laundering industry in Thailand with organized division of labor, connections to state and political authorities, and massive interconnected transaction networks. These networks systematize and perpetuate money laundering by acquiring major shareholdings in financial institutions or listed companies, damaging legitimate business, distorting competition, warping market mechanisms, causing state revenue losses, and posing risks to financial system stability.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anusorn Thammjai announced plans to propose serious solutions to the Finance Committee to address shadow capital money laundering and financial fraud through the financial sector, ensuring wrongdoers face justice, rapid victim compensation, and halting state power seizure by shadow capital. Proposed countermeasures include: 1. Establishing a Data Bureau and linking financial data across all sectors to plug digital asset transaction loopholes used for money laundering; 2. Conducting sweeps against "nominees" and shell bank accounts, and severing corporate shell account circuits to counter shell entity usage.
