Thailand’s government has launched an expanded crackdown on illicit financial flows, targeting gold trading and cryptocurrency markets in its latest effort to bolster the country’s financial integrity and curb ‘grey money’ entering the legitimate economy.

The National Anti-Money Laundering Committee and relevant regulatory agencies announced that gold dealers, digital asset platforms and related intermediaries will now be subject to stricter reporting requirements, due-diligence protocols and enhanced enforcement measures to detect and deter laundering, tax evasion and cross-border fund concealment.

Under the updated framework, dealers in physical gold — a longstanding vehicle for unregulated value transfer domestically and across Southeast Asia — must adhere to customer verification standards and transaction reporting previously reserved for banks and securities firms.

Authorities have also clarified that large or suspicious transfers involving cryptocurrency exchanges, non-fungible tokens and tokenised assets will trigger mandatory disclosures to financial watchdogs.

Regulators emphasised that the measures are designed to complement Thailand’s compliance with international anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards, including those set by the Financial Action Task Force.

Officials underscored that the measures aim to protect legitimate investors and strengthen confidence in Thailand’s financial markets, rather than discourage participation in digital innovation or the precious metals trade.

The Finance Ministry’s statement noted that enhanced transparency will reduce systemic risks and align the kingdom’s regulatory environment with global best practices, while preserving avenues for responsible growth in emerging sectors.

Financial crime specialists welcomed the initiative, noting that unregulated gold trading and opaque crypto transactions have in recent years been exploited to obscure proceeds from corruption, tax avoidance and other illicit sources.

The expanded regime will require platforms to implement advanced anti-money-laundering systems, maintain comprehensive audit trails and cooperate more closely with law enforcement.

Penalties for non-compliance include significant fines and potential revocation of licences for repeat violators.

Thailand’s move comes amid broader regional efforts to tighten financial oversight as cross-border capital flows increase and digital assets become more deeply integrated into mainstream finance.

Bangkok’s authorities have signalled that they will continue to calibrate enforcement tools to balance innovation with integrity, and that future enhancements may extend to real-time monitoring and inter-agency intelligence sharing as part of a holistic approach to financial crime prevention.