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Mekong Memo Thailand Weekly: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal news.

Oct 30, 2026

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AMLO Moves to Seize $1B From Ben Smith Ring

The Anti-Money Laundering Office is making moves to grab more than a full billion US dollars from a laundering ring allegedly led by South African Benjamin Mauerberger, better known by his alias, Ben Smith. A court has issued arrest warrants for Mauerberger, his Thai wife Cattaliya Beevor and Cambodian businessman Yim Leak. Police believe Mauerberger and Leak have already left Thailand. The haul of seized assets includes US$415 million in stocks/ shares, (including a stake in refiner Bangchak), and AMLO says it wants to use the assets to compensate scam victims. Leak's lawyers say authorities have taken more than US$600 million belonging to him and his family without the benefit of even a hearing.

Read more: SCMP (investigation), Malay Mail (assets)

Anutin No-Confidence Vote Set for December 11

Whips have penciled in a no-confidence debate against Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and 17 of his ministers for the week of December 7 to 10, with a vote to follow on December 11. The opposition will be allowed 51 hours to make its case and the government will have 17 to reply/ rebut. The motion, signed by 145 MPs, accuses the administration of abuse of power, corruption and favoritism.

BOT Holds at 1%, Raises Growth Forecast

The Bank of Thailand has unanimously decided to keep its policy rate at at even 1 percent for a fourth straight meeting and nudged its 2026 growth forecast to 2.4 percent from 2.3 percent. The decision to hold was widely anticipated, and most economists think the rate is going to continue to stay put through the end of next year. The baht has lost about 7 percent against the dollar in 2026, lagging its regional peers. Short-term bond yields are likely to remain steady, but weak public finances and high US Treasury yields are putting upwards pressure on longer-term yields.

Read more: Ua News (forecast), FX Street (bond yields)

Anutin Denies Solar Subsidy Favors Big Firms

The Prime Minister is bristling at claims that the 50 billion baht “People's Solar” program favors big business after his related company, Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction, was connected to the scheme. He insists that contracts are going to be awarded fairly. The program make up to 50,000 THB available to households for equipment and installation with an intention to serve as many as a million homes.

Read more: Bangkok Post (Sino-Thai link), Asian News Network (subsidies), Thai Enquirer (buyback rate)

China Wants Return of Five More Uyghurs

A leaked memo, if genuine, shows China's embassy in Bangkok pressing for the return of five more Uyghur detainees. The Thai Foreign Ministry told the Chinese embassy that the National Security Council is the organ that will decide their fate. Two of the five have already finished prison terms for escaping immigration detention. Rights groups say they have lost contact with all of the 40 Uyghurs that were previously sent to China from Thailand earlier this year. Visiting Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard has been vocal in asking the government to not return these five, saying that they could face torture in China.

Hotel Closures Up 42% as Rooms Outpace Visitors

Hotel and accommodation closures were up an eyebrow-raising 42 percent (to 148) in the first three quarters of this year. Thailand now is now home to a total of about 876,000 rooms. That about 12 percent more than were in service before the pandemic, but foreign arrivals are expected to only be about four-fifths of what they were in 2019. More than half of operators say they lost money last calendar year, and nearly two-fifths have lost money in each of the previous three years.

Unitholders Back 5.3B THB Royal Orchid Sheraton Deal

Unitholders have given their blessing to Orchid Hospitality's 5.3 billion baht purchase of Bangkok's Royal Orchid Sheraton, putting an end to a lower bid that came from the hotel's original owner. The trust is in the process of suing that owner for lease breaches and a failure to return the property. Orchid Hospitality, run by property investor Suchad Chiaranussati, is required to pay in full by November 11 or the hotel will next go to auction. After it repays 1.35 billion baht to the Government Savings Bank, the trust is expected to distribute about 12 baht a unit.

AMLO Targets Waste Dumpers

Officials want those who break factory, hazardous substances and environmental laws to be dealt with under anti-money laundering rules. The idea for the change is to allow investigators to follow money flows through nominee shareholders and proxy owners in order to freeze assets. The Anti-Money Laundering Office is working amendments that could take effect from the middle of next year, and at least 50 teams are at work investigating high-risk factories, starting in the Eastern Economic Corridor, Prachin Buri and Samut Prakan.

Supreme Court Says Bitcoin Is Property

The Supreme Court has decided that bitcoin is property under criminal law, setting a binding precedent. The court upheld a 10-year sentence for a man who helped five others rob a tourist on Koh Samui in 2022 by forcing him to buy 2.48 BTC and then transfer it to them. The defendant tried to ~~pull the wool over the courts eyes~~ claim that bitcoin had no intrinsic value, but the court decided that a “market price” and “convertibility into cash” suggested otherwise. The stolen coins were worth about US$50,000 at the time of the robbery and rose in value to about US$200,000 by the time of the report. An order to return the bitcoin or pay compensation remains in force.

Read more: TradingView (legal status), CoinDesk (court ruling), TradingView (sentence), Crypto News (property law)

BKK Runway Gives Way

A section of Suvarnabhumi's Runway 02R gave way beneath a China Airlines Boeing 737-800 that was preparing to take off for Kaohsiung, snaring the jet’s landing gear. Ground crews spent about five hours to get the plane repositioned, forcing the delay of five flights. The airport is pinning the blame on heavy rain, standing water and rising groundwater, things that were surely unforeseeable and probably impossible to detect. Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat says he’s got people checking whether the recent flooding east of Bangkok played a part in the snafu.

Authorities Revoke Citizenship of Jewish Leader

Thai authorities are deep in the weeds of 19 local companies, landholdings and relatives connected to the Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, president of Thailand’s Chabad network, after cancelling his naturalization and revoking his Thai citizenship. The decision was the ostensible result of findings that Kantor continued using his American nationality even after being bestowed Thai citizenship. Officials say they’re also trying to see if any relatives also got citizenship through him, if any of his land acquisitions violated Thai law, and whether associated companies are in violation of any foreign ownership restrictions.

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