Criminal elements are consolidating Thailand’s role as a financial crime hub in Southeast Asia. Real estate loopholes, shell companies, and weak identity controls allow transnational actors to launder illicit funds and perpetrate defrauding scams. Thai authorities have labeled thousands of questionable enterprises and executed record seizures, but systemic weaknesses persist. 

Thai financial and commercial channels are used by Myanmar’s junta and related criminal networks to get around sanctions, and border scam compounds are still in operation. Chinese triads, which combine legal and illegal activities under elite protection, continue to have a significant impact on Thai politics and real estate.

In the meantime, Russian nationals who are subject to sanctions elsewhere are using Thailand as a shelter for their finances and way of life. Thai banks have curtailed access, frozen accounts, and shown resistance to possible financial system fraud.

When combined, these factors highlight Thailand’s dual role as a hub for illicit capital and a nation under pressure to maintain its reputation.