"Warawut," Minister of Industry, has ordered progress in resolving the toxic waste issue by joining forces with the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to promote classifying environmental offenses as predicate offenses under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. This aims to extend asset seizure measures to nominees and mobilize 50 teams to strictly inspect high-risk factories.
On 29 Oct 2026 GMT+7, Warawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Industry, instructed urgent action to address illegal industrial waste dumping and unlawful waste management. The Ministry of Industry is coordinating with AMLO to push for adding environmental offenses as predicate offenses under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. This will help trace financial flows and track assets to masterminds and nominees, while mobilizing at least 50 teams for strict inspections of high-risk factories nationwide.
Pasakorn Chairat, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, met with Police Lieutenant General Thepsu Bawornchotidara, Secretary-General of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), on 27 Oct 2026 GMT+7 at AMLO headquarters. They discussed ways to include environmental offenses as predicate offenses and integrate data exchange, financial tracking, and asset seizure measures related to offenses, aiming to implement the Minister of Industry's directives effectively.
The Permanent Secretary said this effort focuses on tackling operations conducted through proxies or legal entities holding shares on behalf of actual owners—nominees—as well as on the transfer of assets and benefits gained from offenses. These practices obstruct accountability and recovery of remediation costs, while the government must allocate budgets to urgently repair damage and alleviate public hardship.
AMLO has revealed progress on drafting amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act to include environmental offenses as predicate offenses. This will cover factory laws, hazardous materials laws, and national environmental quality promotion acts. The amendment is expected to take effect by mid-2027 to enhance tools for monitoring transactions and tracking assets linked to offenses, extending investigations to behind-the-scenes actors. Meanwhile, current predicate offenses such as customs violations can already be pursued under the Anti-Money Laundering Act when applicable.
Alongside legal reforms, the Ministry of Industry is accelerating inspections of factory categories 105 and 106, aiming for 100% nationwide coverage. Starting with urgent areas in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Prachinburi, and Samut Prakan, at least 50 operational teams are deployed to verify facts, monitor operations, and strictly enforce laws before expanding to other regions across the country.
Pasakorn added that the Ministry of Industry and AMLO are preparing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to link financial and asset data and integrate criminal investigations alongside asset seizure and freezing measures. They plan to establish systems for data, case files, and evidence sharing, as well as develop personnel capacities to comprehensively address factory inspections, prosecutions, and disrupting offenders' environmental crime benefits.