PUBLISHED: 25 Jul 2024 at 08: 53
According to the Foreign Ministry, Thailand will establish a task force to improve the ability of its financial institutions to conduct due diligence checks on trades that could lead to arms purchases and human rights violations in Myanmar.
After a UN specialist reported on a rise in cash moved via Thai bankers for weapons that the junta used against the civilian population, the government convened with commercial banks and state agencies to check these transactions.
The department said in a speech late on Wednesday that the meeting discussed progress being made in looking into possible connections to the purchases of arms, military equipment, and the Myanmar government.
A task force will be set up by the Bank of Thailand and the Anti-Money Laundering Office to look into the transactions and evaluation procedures to “further teach and improve the skill of Thai financial institutions,” according to the statement.
Bank representatives earlier this month admitted to following rules but lacking the ability to look into all possible arms purchases.
A free empire made up of ethnic minority armies and a resistance movement devoted to a shadow government pits the army, which staged a revolution in 2021 after a decade of democracy.
In a statement released last month by the UN special rapporteur on the situation of animal rights in Myanmar, it was revealed that Thai-registered businesses had used local banks to move funds for Myanmar’s$ 120 million military budget in the fiscal year 2023, up from$ 60 million the prior year.
According to the report, those transactions were putting an end to international efforts to remove the military, which is currently facing the greatest challenge since gaining control.