Thailand has launched a campaign against so-called “grey money”, tightening surveillance on physical gold markets and digital assets in an effort to close money laundering loopholes, according to local reports.
This push, reportedly ordered by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, brings Separation of asset classes traditionally under a single framework that combats illicit finance.
Local media outlet The Nation reported that the initiative targets sectors that have been used by criminal networks to transfer and store value outside the banking system. This includes gold bars, online gold platforms, and crypto.
“Today, we are addressing not only modern digital threats, but also ‘analogue’ financial crimes,” Charnvirakul said at Friday’s meeting at the Finance Ministry. “We must work as a single, unified force to protect the public interest and the integrity of our financial system.”
Establishment of a national center for real-time threat monitoring
Charnvirakul reportedly said a unified force was necessary to deal with “constantly evolving” criminal methods. Because of this, the government is planning to set up a national data hub that enables real-time monitoring and creation of risk profiles for suspicious activity.
On the gold side, the Anti-Money Laundering Office was directed to reduce the mandatory reporting threshold for purchases of physical gold. Currently, only transactions over 2 million Thai baht (about $63,000) are subject to reporting requirements.
However, officials said the criminals were deliberately dividing the amount into small purchases to avoid detection. Additionally, regulators are also considering new trade taxes and strict audit requirements for online gold trading platforms, according to The Nation.
For digital assets, the government ordered The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission will strictly enforce the travel rule.
Under this global anti-money laundering (AML) standard, licensed crypto asset service providers must collect and transmit identifying information about both the sender and recipient of certain transactions, particularly in wallet-to-wallet transfers facilitated by exchanges.
At the moment, there are no official reports indicating whether self-custodial wallets are being banned or banned. Based on available information, obligations apply to regulated intermediaries, including exchanges and custodial wallet providers.
Despite this, strict travel rule enforcement may indirectly impact withdrawals into self-custody wallets.
Exchanges may impose enhanced verification, additional disclosures, or stricter controls on outbound transfers to comply with their reporting requirements, even if self-custody remains permitted.
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Thailand’s comprehensive crypto regulatory currency
Thailand is historically took A structured, regulator-led approach to crypto that supports licensing, clear regulations, and active supervision. The country was the first in Southeast Asia to introduce a comprehensive crypto regime that placed exchanges, brokers, and dealers under SEC supervision.
In 2024, Thailand’s SEC cracked down on crypto advertising, warning crypto exchanges against making investments attractive. The regulator warned market participants to adhere to advertising guidelines, which require businesses to prove the facts stated in their campaigns.
On April 9, the country targeted foreign crypto peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms while intensifying measures to tackle crimes involving digital assets.
The latest crackdown on “grey money” has changed the approach. By framing crypto and gold as parallel channels, Thailand signals that digital assets are no longer treated as regulatory externalities. Instead, they have been transformed into a broader, data-centric enforcement model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-OpHzYpAc
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