NESDB urges Thai government to amend anti-money laundering laws

BANGKOK, February 20 (TNA) - The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has urged the government to expedite the amendment of anti-money laundering laws to quickly remove Thailand from a blacklist. Regarding a recent resolution of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to include Thailand in its blacklist for countries failing to take sufficient actions to obstruct money laundering, NESDB Secretary-General Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said Monday that the government needs to amend the laws to meet international standards and to contain impacts from the FATF's decision late last week, acknowledging how much the matter would affect Thailand would depend on the government’s transparency and eagerness in the legal amendment. Turning to the domestic tourism, the NESDB chief assessed that the Thai tourism should grow well unless there was a repeated violent incident in the country, suggesting that Thailand explain a series of bomb blasts in Bangkok to the international community to eradicate confusion on the issue and to maintain confidence in the Kingdom among international travelers. Meanwhile, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung said, however, that he disagrees with any attempt to amend the anti-money laundering laws to meet the FATF's standards, as Thailand was not a base of terrorists, cautioning if anti-money laundering laws were further intensified, exceeding the judicial authority, banks' assets could be seized. The deputy premier insisted that he would tell the secretary-general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office that Thailand could not pass a law just to please an organization. (TNA)