Thailand targets ‘gray money’ with unified oversight of gold and crypto

Thailand has launched a campaign against so-called “gray money,” tightening oversight across physical gold markets and digital assets as part of an effort to close money-laundering loopholes, according to local reports.

The push, reportedly ordered by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, brings traditionally separate asset classes under a single framework to combat illicit finance. 

Local media outlet The Nation reported that the initiative targets areas that have been exploited by criminal networks to move and store value outside the banking system. This includes gold bars, online gold platforms and crypto. 

“Today, we are not only addressing modern digital threats but also ‘analogue’ financial crimes,” Charnvirakul said in a Friday meeting at the Ministry of Finance. “We must work as a single, integrated force to protect the public interest and the integrity of our financial system.”

Establishing a national hub for real-time threat monitoring

Charnvirakul said that an integrated force is necessary to combat “constantly evolving” criminal methods. Because of this, the government plans to establish 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 instructed to lower the mandatory reporting threshold for physical gold purchases. At the moment, only transactions exceeding 2 million Thai baht (about $63,000) are subject to reporting requirements. 

Authorities said criminals are deliberately breaking the amount into smaller purchases to avoid detection. Regulators are also considering new business taxes and stricter audit requirements for online gold trading platforms. 

For digital assets, the government ordered the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission to 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, no official reports indicate whether self-custody wallets are being restricted or banned. Based on available information, the obligations apply to regulated intermediaries, including exchanges and custodial wallet providers. 

Despite this, stricter Travel Rule enforcement may indirectly affect withdrawals to self-custody wallets.

Exchanges may impose enhanced verification, additional disclosures or tighter controls on outbound transfers to comply with their reporting requirements, even if self-custody is permitted. 

Related: Survey finds 6 in 10 of Asia’s rich plan to ramp up crypto buying

Thailand’s broader crypto regulatory posture

Thailand has historically taken a structured, regulator-led approach to crypto that favors licensing, clear rules and active supervision. The country was among the first in Southeast Asia to introduce a comprehensive crypto regime that placed exchanges, brokers and dealers under SEC oversight. 

In 2024, Thailand’s SEC cracked down on crypto advertising, warning crypto exchanges against glamorizing investments. The regulator warned market participants to adhere to ad guidelines that require businesses to prove facts stated in their campaigns. 

On April 9, the country targeted foreign crypto peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms, sharpening measures to combat crimes involving digital assets. 

The latest push on “gray money” shifts the approach. By framing crypto and gold as parallel channels, Thailand signals that digital assets are no longer treated as a regulatory outlier. Instead, they are folded into a broader, data-centric enforcement model. 

Magazine: ‘China’s Ethereum’ in civil war, Japan to embrace Bitcoin ETFs: Asia Express