Thailand 20250919
Mekong Memo Thailand Weekly: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal news.
Business stories from Southeast Asia directly to your inbox every week.
The Mekong Memo is proudly presented by:
Horton International is your premier partner for executive search in Southeast Asia. Whether you're a small startup or a global corporation, our reliable and effective recruiting solutions are tailored to meet your unique needs. With extensive experience and offices across the region, we excel at overcoming recruitment challenges and securing top talent for your organization.
Click here to learn how Horton can make your life easier.
Here is your Mekong Memo Thailand for this week.
As a reminder, you can adjust which country versions of The Memo you would like to receive by adjusting your settings here.
Headlines:
Bank Account Freezes Cause Chaos
Gold Tax Proposal to Tame Baht Exuberance
Thailand-Cambodia Border Tensions
Border Closures Slam Trade
Thai-Cambodia Plan to Combat Call Scams
Navy Signs New Submarine Contract with China
Falcon Strike 2025 Exercise
Digital Wallet Investigation Pressures NACC
Political Parties Defect to Ruling Coalition
Constitutional Amendment for Constitutional Amenders
Land Bridge Project Gets Senate Opposition
Crypto Tax Exemption Supports Market
Innovation Ranking Drops
Tourism Numbers Drop On Regional Competition
Refer three friends and receive a full paid subscription to The Memo for one month absolutely FREE:
Bank Account Freezes Cause Chaos
The Bank of Thailand ham-fistedly froze more than 3 million bank accounts as part of an “anti-scam crackdown,” causing panic for both businesses and individuals. The absurd measure was intended to be applied to accounts suspected of fraudulent activities, with transfer limits between 50,000 and 200,000 baht placed on partially restricted accounts. Critics said the approach was way too broad, and affected thousands of users, including expatriates, and punitively damaged many small businesses by disallowing payrolls and supply chain payments. Now that the banking system seems to be more risky, some have now made a shift toward cryptocurrency as an alternative. The chaos comes as more and more shops are trying to go “cash-free,” but this is a cautionary tale for consumers to push back on the trend.
Read more: WebProNews (Crypto shift), Thai Examiner (Economic impact), Khao Sod English (Government response), News Bitcoin (Banking limits)
Gold Tax Proposal to Tame Baht Exuberance
A tax on physical gold trading is being evaluated as a way to combat the baht's appreciation, which has risen 7% this year to four-year highs. The proposed tax would target online gold transactions settled in baht and possibly exempt trades in USD or on futures exchanges. Gold exports rose more than two-thirds from January through July, to 254 billion baht, especially supported by Cambodian shipments. The strong baht has been a drag on exports and tourism, two industries that, combined, represent 70% of GDP. The tax is expected to be mulled over by the new cabinet; specific rates remain undetermined.
Read more: Bangkok Post (Tax details), Live Mint (Central bank view), Business Times (Market impact), GuruFocus (Market implications)
Thailand-Cambodia Border Tensions
Thai police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Cambodian protesters during a recent flashpoint in a disputed border area on September 17. At least 23 Cambodians were reported injured, with Thai officials also suffering injuries in the mêlée. The spat kicked off when Cambodian villagers allegedly tried to pull down Thai barbed wire fencing in Sa Kaeo Province. Thailand gave a 30-day ultimatum for Cambodian residents to get out of the area. This action comes during a supposed ceasefire that was agreed upon in July.
Read more: News AZ (Clash details), KPVI (Military response), Khao Sod English (Ultimatum), News Shield(Cambodian leader's response)
Border Closures Slam Trade
New Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has made it clear that Thailand will not reopen border crossings with Cambodia until territorial disagreements are sorted out through diplomatic and military channels. All checkpoints are still closed, resulting in a near-total collapse of border trade. A recent meeting between Thai and Cambodian officials contemplated a phased reopening of lower-risk crossings in Chanthaburi and Trat, while areas like Buri Ram, Surin, Si Sa Ket, and Ubon Ratchathani are considered too high-risk of conflict, and, therefore, resumption of trade. Business leaders are increasingly desperate in their calls for the government to figure out ways to help businesses that have been hamstrung by the closures.
Read more: Bangkok Post (PM statement), Bangkok Post (Trade impact)
Thai-Cambodia Plan to Combat Call Scams
Thai and Cambodian police officials agreed (again?) to figure out how to stop cross-border cybercrime and scams after a 10-hour meeting on Tuesday. The talks followed the Thailand-Cambodia General Border Committee meeting on September 10, and were intended to shut down call center gangs defrauding Thais from Cambodia. Thai authorities helpfully gave detailed information about call center bases to support Cambodian enforcement. The Cambodian authorities said they were committed to a crackdown plan, with results to be reported at the next GBC meeting.
Read more: Asian News Network
Navy Signs New Submarine Contract with China
The Royal Thai Navy has signed a revised deal with China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co to restart its submarine purchasing effort. The deal, signed in Beijing, changes the original plan by replacing the German-made MTU396 engine with a Chinese-made CHD620 diesel engine because of export restrictions imposed (by Germany) in 2021. The construction deadline has been extended by 1,217 days, meaning that the delivery of the first sub should be expected in late 2028. The sub purchase started as a government-to-government contract in 2017 and is valued at 13.5 billion baht.
Read more: Bangkok Post
Falcon Strike 2025 Exercise
China's Ministry of National Defense announced the Falcon Strike 2025 joint training exercise is going to be run with the Royal Thai Air Force this month in Thailand. The exercise will bring together Chinese J-10C fighters and Thai Gripen aircraft, and will be especially focused on how the two forces can work together with equipment that isn’t normally used together. The Falcon Strike exercises started in 2015 and have grown in complexity every year since. Thailand appears keen to balance military partnerships with China while still running regular exercises with the U.S.
Read more: Army Recognition
Digital Wallet Investigation Pressures NACC
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is under pressure to wrap up an investigation into accusations against the Srettha Thavisin and Paetongtarn Shinawatra governments for (allegedly) violating the constitution by moving funds that they shouldn’t have moved in aid of their 35-billion-baht digital wallet scheme. The allegations are that the government shifted budget allocations from debt servicing of five state-owned banks to funding for the scheme, a central policy plank of the Pheu Thai Party. Former Democrat Party MP Charnchai Issarasenarak says that both governments breached constitution section 144, which disallows budget cuts for legal obligations. Penalties under the 2017 charter can include removal from office and political bans.
Read more: Bangkok Post
Political Parties Defect to Ruling Coalition
About 50 politicians from Chumphon province defected from the United Thai Nation Party to the Bhumjaithai Party, putting compliance with a previous five-point agreement between Bhumjaithai and the People's Party into question. The standing agreement required Bhumjaithai leader (and now Prime Minister) Anutin Charnvirakul to avoid forming a majority government and to dissolve the House within four months. The biggest names on the defectors list included former Chumphon MP Chumpol Junsai and Nopporn Usit, chairman of the Chumphon Provincial Administration Organisation. While the defections don't technically violate the agreement, they could create issues if expelled MPs join with coalition partners.
Read more: Bangkok Post
Constitutional Amendment for Constitutional Amenders
The Pheu Thai Party wants a constitutional amendment to change the selection process for a new constitution-drafting assembly (CDA). The proposal is for a 140-member CDA made up mostly of elected members from the provinces, with a few more selected from parliament. At the start, 200 candidates would be elected, and parliament would be expected to winnow that number down to 100 members. The remaining 40 would be chosen and appointed from professional groups. The plan to make the amendment follows a Constitutional Court ruling that requires three referendums for the drafting of a new constitution.
Read more: Bangkok Post
Land Bridge Project Gets Senate Opposition
A Senate committee led by Noraset Pratchayakorn is calling on the Bhumjaithai-led government to put a pause on the trillion-baht Land Bridge project because of inadequate local community consultation. The project is intended to connect shipping routes between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea overland and through ports in Chumphon and Ranong. Critics say the public input process has been totally insufficient, and most of the discussions have been between government agencies, excluding the villagers who will be most impacted. The Southern Economic Corridor bill, essential for the project's go-ahead, is also being criticized for giving too much power to the project committee.
Read more: Bangkok Post
Crypto Tax Exemption Supports Market
The Ministry of Finance gave a five-year personal income tax exemption on cryptocurrency capital gains, starting from January 1, 2025, and ending December 31, 2029. The ministry wants to set Thailand up as a global financial center and be supportive of domestic investment in digital assets. The exemption applies only to individuals, and excludes companies and other juristic persons.
Read more: Tilleke & Gibbins
Innovation Ranking Drops
Thailand's spot in the Global Innovation Index (GII) has dropped to 45th out of 139 economies, down from 41st place. While part of the drop is being pinned on changes to the way the scores are calculated, improved performance of other nations, and falling sub-index scores are on a negative path. Krithpaka Boonfueng, director of the National Innovation Agency, said (among other issues), structural problems causing the decline include low levels of venture capital investments, and insufficient FDI for innovation. The NIA is expected to create a private equity trust fund (currently waiting for cabinet approval) that will be valued at 4 billion baht to support start-up investments. A billion baht of the total would come from the government, the balance from VC partners.
Read more: Bangkok Post
Tourism Numbers Drop On Regional Competition
Thailand's foreign tourist arrivals fell more than 7% year-on-year from January 1 to September 14, 2025, according to the latest numbers from the Tourism Ministry. About 23 million foreign visitors were reported during the period - Malaysia was the top source market (3.28 million visitors), followed closely by China (3.23 million). In August, the state planning agency reconsidered its foreign tourist arrivals forecast, down sharply from 37 million to 33 million for the year. This drop comes in compared to Thailand's pre-pandemic performance of nearly 40 million inbound visitors for the full year 2019.
Read more: Reuters
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading!
How are we doing?
We love hearing from readers, and we are always looking for feedback. How are we doing with the Mekong Memo? Is there anything you'd like to see more of or less of? Which aspects of the newsletter do you enjoy the most?
Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back— hit reply and help us get better. We'd love to hear from you!
If you value the Mekong Memo, please consider buying (or gifting!) a paid subscription, sharing it on social media or forwarding this email to someone who might enjoy it. Please also “like” this newsletter by clicking the ❤️ below, which helps us get visibility on the Substack network.
Thank you!