Thai central bank to investigate Myanmar weapons payments

BANGKOK: Thailand's central bank and anti-laundering office will investigate claims that Thai commercial banks facilitated transactions linked to weapons purchases by Myanmar's junta, a foreign ministry said on Wednesday (Jul 24).

Myanmar's military deposed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 and launched a bloody crackdown that has plunged the country into turmoil.

The United States, European Union and others have sanctioned members of Myanmar's junta and entities of its sprawling business empire.

A report last month by a UN expert said the junta imported nearly US$130 million in weapons and military supplies from Thailand-registered suppliers in the year to March 2024.

Five commercial banks in Thailand had been crucial in facilitating the transfers, which were more than double the total of the previous year, according to special rapporteur Tom Andrews.

On Wednesday, government and banking officials had discussed "transactions that may be linked to the purchase of weapons and military supplies and the Myanmar government", Thai foreign affairs spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said in a statement.

The Bank of Thailand and the anti-money laundering office "will jointly establish a Task Force to investigate these transactions", he said.

He did not give details on a timeframe for the investigation.

The coup, which ended a short-lived experiment with democracy, plunged the Southeast Asian nation into turmoil.

Across swaths of the country, the junta is battling established ethnic minority armed groups as well as pro-democracy "People's Defence Forces".

Rights groups accuse the junta of committing possible war crimes as it struggles to crush opposition to its coup.

More than 5,400 people have been killed and 27,000 arrested in the junta's crackdown since 2021, according to local monitoring groups.