BoT to tighten checks on large cash withdrawals in new anti-grey funds push

The Bank of Thailand is preparing a new crackdown on “grey” money flows and mule accounts by requiring commercial banks to flag and report large cash withdrawals—with the threshold expected at around 3–5 million baht—and to record the purpose of the cash, with the details due to be finalised by the end of January, governor Vitai Ratanakorn said.

Vitai was speaking at the “Thailand Blooming 2026: Awakening Thailand’s Future” event organised by Matichon, where he said the central bank is in discussions on measures to block financial channels linked to illicit activity.

Banks asked to report cash-withdrawal purpose

Vitai said the BoT is seeking cooperation from commercial banks to report customers’ stated purposes when they withdraw cash above a set threshold. The figure is still being discussed, but is expected to fall within the 3–5 million baht range.

He said the initiative is part of broader efforts to address grey business activity and corruption, which he described as a major structural problem affecting both the public and private sectors.

“Suspicious from the outset” for unusually large cash use

Vitai said the BoT aims to increase transparency across different transaction types, including cash and gold, by asking banks to report suspicious cash withdrawals and strengthen screening and customer due diligence (CDD) so abnormal money movements can be intercepted promptly.

“Nowadays, transactions involving large sums—such as buying land—can be paid by transfer or cheque. Withdrawing more than three million baht in cash to pay for it is something we may need to treat as suspicious from the outset,” he said.

He added that inconsistencies between a customer’s financial profile and unusual account activity should also raise red flags, citing the example of an individual whose stated occupation would not reasonably align with millions of baht moving in and out of an account daily.

Gold oversight to tighten, with new reporting and caps

Vitai said the BoT has issued a new foreign-exchange notification requiring gold buyers or sellers who have imported or exported gold over the past five years with a total value exceeding 10 billion baht to report to the BoT, noting the notification has already been published in the Royal Gazette.

He said two further notifications are expected to follow—one requiring gold shops to keep records of gold transactions exceeding 20 million baht, and another setting a cap on gold trading of no more than 50 million baht—with publication expected in the Royal Gazette by Friday.

THB50m cap applies to baht-settled gold apps

Vitai said the 50 million baht cap would apply only to gold trading on applications where settlement is in Thai baht, and would not cover apps trading in US dollars. App providers would be given a one-month grace period to adjust systems and set the cap.

He said the cap would apply to new trades only, while gold purchased previously could still be traded as usual, provided platform operators clearly separate “new” and “existing” holdings.

Vitai noted that gold trading via applications has at times exceeded stock trading volumes, while equities markets are subject to tight oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Greater oversight of gold transactions, he said, would improve transparency and close loopholes for illegal activity conducted by converting money into gold.