Thai banks called to task for funding weapon exports to Myanmar
House committee to investigate allegations that certain Thai entities wittingly or unwittingly have been supporting the military junta
The House panel on Thursday summoned banks and relevant agencies as part of its investigation into mule accounts used to support Myanmar’s military junta.
The committee in charge of state security, border affairs, national strategy and reform initiated the investigation in response to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)’s report in late June, which revealed that Thai banks were providing financial services to the Myanmar military junta for weapon procurement.
The meeting was attended by Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, as well as relevant agencies like the Foreign Ministry, Anti-Money Laundering Office, Bank of Thailand and commercial banks.
Move Forward party-list MP Rangsiman Rome, who is the committee chairman, said the UN report showed the connection of Thai banks to procurement of weapons, which had caused many casualties in Myanmar and led to an influx of refugees to Thailand.
“Conflict and violence significantly impacted Thailand, so the committee cannot tolerate them,” he said.
He said over 250 companies, including some from Thailand, were involved in military procurement and violence in Myanmar over the past year. However, Thailand did not come up with measures or take action to prevent this, he pointed out.
“The committee has raised this issue with all parties, including banks, government agencies and the Foreign Ministry. All stated categorically that they do not want our banking system to be involved with transactions that lead to weapon procurement,” he said.
“Even though we do not have any standard to tackle this issue, we promise today that we will be introducing short, middle and long-term measures to deal with it.”
Rangsiman said that the committee has advised the Foreign Ministry to collaborate with Singapore, citing it as a model in dealing with the issue. All relevant agencies have been asked to report progress on the implementation of measures to the committee within 30 days, he said.
Even though banks have said that transactions through mule accounts were low, he stressed that the committee cannot tolerate any accounts that are used to purchase weapons and support the Myanmar military junta in killing people.
Meanwhile, Andrews said Myanmar’s neighbouring countries are paying attention to the situation and the casualties this has caused. He also praised Rangsiman for the clarity in demanding measures for dealing with mule accounts that support the Myanmar military junta.
“This would be a good start, and there are still many ways in which we can work together,” he said, adding that he has witnessed clear political commitment to tackle this issue.
