Thailand’s central bank will enhance due diligence monitoring and prioritise the investigation of suspicious transactions, including at commercial lenders, its governor said on Tuesday, as Southeast Asia’s second largest economy struggles to tamp down online scams.

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) will also strengthen the supervision and inspection of financial service providers, including money transfer agents and currency exchanges, and probe certain gold transactions, Vitai Ratanakorn said.

“Any irregularities must be reported to the BOT,” Vitai said in a statement. “This will enable comprehensive monitoring and investigation of financial trails that may be involved in fraud.”

Border areas between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have become hubs for online fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic, with criminal networks operating sprawling multibillion-dollar cyber scam compounds.

Last month, Thailand’s deputy finance minister resigned following allegations linking him to a transnational scam operation.

Despite multinational crackdowns, scam compounds that house tens of thousands of people, including trafficking victims, continue to operate in the region and are expanding globally, according to the United Nations.

REUTERS