Thailand's Finance Ministry is drawing up a framework to oversee the entire gold market, linking financial records with gold transactions to help trace suspected grey money and money laundering. The proposed system would cover online and shopfront trades, gold imports, bullion movements and physical delivery. Officials say it would allow them to follow funds from their source through to the final delivery of gold. The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) is consulting state agencies and gold businesses before deciding the final rules, director-general Vinit Visessuvanapoom said. Closing gaps in gold-market supervision Vinit said the government faces two urgent problems: no single agency directly regulates the gold business, and the state does not have access to complete transaction data. "The gold market has two problems that need urgent attention. First, no agency directly regulates the gold business. Second, the state lacks the tools to obtain complete transaction data," he said. Without those links, authorities cannot fully establish whether money entering the financial system later moves into gold, or trace funds from their origins to their eventual destination. The Bank of Thailand has already issued some rules supporting the government's approach, while the FPO is working with other agencies on measures to widen supervision. Officials want records that can show whether the money and gold involved in a transaction actually exist, where purchase funds came from, and how both funds and bullion subsequently moved. The new framework would supplement the Anti-Money Laundering Office, which already has legal authority to monitor cash transactions and other dealings that meet statutory conditions. Online and physical gold trades linked The ministry does not believe online gold dealing and transactions at physical gold shops can be regulated separately. Vinit said money and gold may pass through both channels in a single transaction chain. The ministry says it wants access to essential information without placing unnecessary costs or disruption on a gold industry that remains important and popular in Thailand. Tax is not the only possible tool No decision has been made on a specific business tax for gold transactions. Vinit stressed that taxation was one possible way to obtain transaction records, rather than the main purpose of the policy. "I do not want the public to worry about tax, because that may create the impression that the government is trying to raise revenue when this is a separate issue," he said. "Tax is only one tool, but it gives us transaction data. There are several other tools, so oversight is more important in the bigger picture." The FPO aims to complete its work as quickly as possible, but Vinit said officials must first determine which measures would genuinely close loopholes without causing disproportionate harm to legitimate gold businesses. Join the discussion? 1 September 2026
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