Bank of Thailand Guidelines on Unfreezing Mule Accounts

Prachachat•Economy•16h ago

Reader Briefing

The Bank of Thailand has clarified procedures for unfreezing accounts suspended under mule account measures to protect innocent citizens.

•Sakkaphop Phanyanukul of the Bank of Thailand explained the process for suspending and unfreezing accounts to balance crime prevention with citizen rights.
•Suspension of an account for investigation does not constitute a decision that the owner has committed a crime.
•Losses from scams where victims transferred money themselves decreased from approximately 8,590 million baht in Q2 2024 to approximately 1,810 million baht in Q2 2026.

Overview

•Sakkaphop Phanyanukul stated that the Bank of Thailand recognizes the impact on citizens who had accounts suspended without intent to commit a crime.
•The Bank of Thailand focuses on two parallel actions: rapidly blocking high-risk accounts and accelerating investigations to unfreeze accounts for innocent users.
•The Bank of Thailand noted that requesting an unfreeze from a single bank may not automatically unfreeze all accounts because responsible authorities vary by risk level and reason for suspension.
•Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) is used for deep investigations when evidence is insufficient to confirm the source of funds.
•The mule account management measure is a collaboration between the Bank of Thailand, financial institutions, AMLO, CCIB, and related agencies.
•Fraud losses decreased from approximately 8,590 million baht in Q2 2024 to approximately 1,810 million baht in Q2 2026.
•The Bank of Thailand has instructed financial institutions to clearly communicate the reasons for suspension, contact points, and required documents to affected customers.

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Key Quotes

Sakkaphop Phanyanukul

"In some cases where unfreezing is not yet possible, additional fact-checking may be underway, or information and evidence may be insufficient to confirm the origin of transactions and funds."

บางกรณีที่ยังไม่สามารถปลดระงับได้ อาจอยู่ระหว่างการตรวจสอบข้อเท็จจริงเพิ่มเติม หรือข้อมูลและหลักฐานยังไม่เพียงพอที่จะยืนยันที่มาของธุรกรรมและแหล่งที่มาของเงิน

Key Entities

Organization

Bank of Thailand(ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย)ℹ️

The central bank providing guidelines on the suspension and unfreezing of mule accounts.

AMLO(ปปง.)ℹ️

An agency collaborating on the mule account management measure.

CCIB(สอท.)

An agency collaborating on the mule account management measure.

Person

Sakkaphop Phanyanukul(สักกะภพ พันธ์ยานุกูล)

Assistant Governor of the Payment Systems Policy and Financial Service User Supervision Department at the Bank of Thailand.

Policy

Mule Account Management Measure(มาตรการจัดการบัญชีม้า)

A collaborative measure to prevent and block the financial paths of fraudsters.