Thai anti-money laundering law : measures to control indirect financing of terrorism by business entities

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to examine the relations between NGOs and business entities and their risks of involving in terrorist financing process in Thailand as well as examine the current domestic laws and regulations which aim to control the financing of terrorism. In addition, it aims to examine the current anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) international standards, particularly the FATF Special Recommendation VIII (SR8) on non-profit organization as well as the implementation of those standards on the domestic laws in order to create effective measures to control indirect financing of terrorism by business entities via NGOs. The result of the thesis has shown that Thailand has successfully implemented AML/CFT international standards through the amendment of Anti-Money Laundering B.E. 2542 (1999) (No.4) B.E. 2556 (2013) and the enactment of Counter-Terrorism Financing Act B.E. 2556 (2013); which provide effective measures to control indirectly financing of terrorism by business entities via NGOs. Nevertheless, it is recommended for Thailand to implement other measures which are Know Your NGOs, Know Your Donor and Know Your Beneficiary (KYD/KYB). Furthermore, it is recommended that Thailand should establish the Charity Commission of Thailand based on the working prototype of the Charity Commission of England and Wales as well as implements its NGO Sector and Regulation Review Tool. It is also recommended that further amendment of the two domestic laws should include duties for the NGOs and business entities to report their transactions to AMLO and create risk-based assessment policies to prevent themselves from terrorist financing activities. Finally, it is recommended that Thailand should consider adopting AML/CFT measures applied in other countries.