webfact Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 THE ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING OFFICEAMLO wants law on money smuggling made tougher Piyanut Tumnukasetchai The NationBANGKOK: -- The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) will propose stricter laws to allow any cash over the legal limit of US$20,000 (Bt642,000) that is brought into the country and not declared to be seized and forfeited to the state. Secretary general Seehanat Prayoonrat said yesterday that his office would seek amendments by the National Legislative Assembly of three laws on money laundering to bring them up to international standard and prevent money laundering and terrorism more effectively. According to customs regulations, people who fail to declare cash in excess of the statutory level only have to pay a Bt20,000 fine to get their money back. But under the proposed changes, offenders would be taken to court and all money confiscated by the state. "Thailand might be a small country in terms of size. But we are a money centre in Asean. The international community sees Thailand taking a strategic role in the suppression of money laundering and terrorism. If we have strong measures to inspect, we could increase the strength of the region too," Seehanat said. "In 2015-16, the Financial Action Task Force will assess Thailand again after it has adjusted the evaluation criteria," he said. If Thailand fails again, it would have to face financial sanctions like it did in 2012. This would have more of an impact than the US' Trafficking in Persons report, as it would be difficult for Thailand to conduct financial transactions with foreign countries. FATF is the global standard-setting body for combating money laundering and the funding of terrorism. It usually identifies nations that have strategic deficiencies and works with them to address those problems that pose a risk to the global financial system. On March 12 last year, the president of FATF submitted a letter to the justice minister informing him that Thailand had been removed from its listing in February 2012, that categorised the country as a jurisdiction with insufficient progress in addressing the deficiencies of its Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Strategy. Publication of the FATF statement aims to warn member states to increase their scrutiny when engaging in financial transactions originating from or flowing to countries that it lists. In June, the US State Department downgraded Thailand to Tier 3, the lowest rank in its Trafficking in Persons report. Thai officials insisted it did not deserve to be in Tier 3 because it had made progress in this area.The report caused fear of negative impacts on the fishing sector and other industries. Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/AMLO-wants-law-on-money-smuggling-made-tougher-30240806.html [thenation]2014-08-13[/thenation] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smedly Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 so the first paragraph in this article just reads all wrong to me Surely they should be trying to stop people taking money out of Thailand were they cannot account for where it came from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisY1 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Why would it be illegal to bring money into Thailand......??? Most countries almost encourage cash being bought into the country..... Taking it out...fair enough....maybe I'm reading it wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespunk Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) Why would it be illegal to bring money into Thailand......??? Most countries almost encourage cash being bought into the country..... Taking it out...fair enough....maybe I'm reading it wrong? I don't think it is illegal to bring it in. It's just that over a certain amount you have to declare it and explain why you need such a large sum of money. I think over a certain value you also have to explain why you are transferring money out of many countries. Could be wrong though. Edited August 13, 2014 by Bluespunk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rametindallas Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Well, there goes my money laundering business. /sarcasm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmj Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I thought thats what bitcoin is for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeegator Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) so the first paragraph in this article just reads all wrong to me Surely they should be trying to stop people taking money out of Thailand were they cannot account for where it came from So it's ok to bring large undeclared amounts of cash, over the prescribed limit, of a possibly doubtful source into Thailand in your view? Are you a boiler room banker?! Edited August 13, 2014 by Zeegator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeegator Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Why would it be illegal to bring money into Thailand......??? Most countries almost encourage cash being bought into the country..... Taking it out...fair enough....maybe I'm reading it wrong? This is not about enhancing a country's economy it's about complying with international money laundering regulations. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smedly Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 so the first paragraph in this article just reads all wrong to me Surely they should be trying to stop people taking money out of Thailand were they cannot account for where it came from So it's ok to bring large undeclared amounts of cash, over the prescribed limit, of a possibly doubtful source into Thailand in your view? Are you a boiler room banker?! are you asking me a serious question, moving money across borders should always be regulated in both directions but considering Thailands record for corruption and the department that made the statement I'd be inclined to have a very keen eye on what is exiting Thailand as opposed to entering but that doesn't seem to be the case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuiburi Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Bringing in over 20.000 US dollar in cash sounds a bit dodgy indeed . Luckily most of us probably not have this "luxury" problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai at Heart Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Why would it be illegal to bring money into Thailand......??? Most countries almost encourage cash being bought into the country..... Taking it out...fair enough....maybe I'm reading it wrong? Thailand is a gigantic washing machine for dodgy money from western drug smugglers hiding on the islands to people just buying condos for undeclared cash. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Why would it be illegal to bring money into Thailand......??? Most countries almost encourage cash being bought into the country..... Taking it out...fair enough....maybe I'm reading it wrong? No it is not illegal to bring it in....you need to declare it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useronthenet Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Of course that works both ways. I'm sure there has been billions of THB pouring out of the country undetected for years, through corrupt bank officials and alike. Perhaps the AMLO should be investigating those institutions as well ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time Traveller Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 By changing this law, the implication is that it's foreigners who are money laundering. In reality most of the money laundering in thailand is through thai criminals exploiting it's cash based economy - purchasing real estate, cars, businesses etc. with cash. So why not enforce declarations on any transaction over $20,000 in cash? Answer: creating hysteria against foreigners is easier than losing the support of the Thai mafia lords who could quickly become a problem for the military's attempt to control the country. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhotsox Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) IMHO Either in or out, if you are bringing in that kind of money in CASH to Thailand, or any country for that matter, the likelihood of it being from an illegal source are high. If it weren't, you would do a banking transfer of some sort either online or through your own bank at home. And in the case of Thailand, if it is over 50k then you are going to want an FTC to show them if you ever plan on taking it out of here again. Nobody walks around with that kind of money if it is legit. Either illegal or you don't want someone to know you have it, which is one in the same. C'mon people. Edited August 13, 2014 by djhotsox 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil B Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Why would it be illegal to bring money into Thailand......??? Most countries almost encourage cash being bought into the country..... Taking it out...fair enough....maybe I'm reading it wrong? No it is not illegal to bring it in....you need to declare it. You have to declare it... and no doubt prove it is legit, money laundering laws are much the same in most countries, so one would no doubt when bringing money into Thailand have proof it was declared on exit from the country it came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belg Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 do the terrorists in the south, you know the ones killing teachers & other innocents on an almost daily bases, have anything to do with this money laundring business ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inquisitive Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 There are some people who do not believe that the government (and by this I mean ANY government) will always act honestly or justly, and the only way to prevent them from unfairly confiscating their citizens' honestly earned money is to not let the government know they have it. Unfortunately, there are many examples in history that shows this attitude to have some merit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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