BANGKOK, THAILAND – Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) secured a provisional freeze on assets worth about 13.074 billion baht in four major cases, following orders from the Civil Court in Bangkok.
Decision followed review of unfreezing request
According to Wittaya Nititham, assistant secretary-general and spokesman for AMLO, the move stemmed from deliberations by the 2nd Transaction Committee on 11 February 2026. The committee examined a request to lift an earlier provisional seizure order.
After reviewing the petition, the body concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the assets in question were not linked to criminal activity. The Civil Court then ordered temporary confiscation measures and account freezes due to indications of attempts to transfer or conceal allegedly illicit assets.
Files sent to prosecutors and Civil Court
On 17 February 2026, Theppasu Bavornchotidara, secretary-general of AMLO, instructed staff to forward the case files to the special public prosecutors at the Office of the Attorney-General. The aim was to seek a court order declaring the assets in the four major cases, with a combined value of around 13.074 billion baht, to be state property.
The prosecutors subsequently petitioned the Civil Court to transfer the assets listed in the four proceedings to the state, AMLO reported. After a preliminary review of the evidence, the court found sufficient grounds to assume possible attempts to transfer, dispose of or hide property suspected of being connected to criminal offences.
Court orders freezes under anti-money laundering law
On this basis, the Civil Court ordered provisional seizure and freezing of the assets under Section 55 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542, pending further decisions. The court assigned the AMLO secretary-general to safeguard the frozen property and notify the affected parties.
In the case involving Ms. Tangthai, Mr. LEAK YIM, Ms. Warinya, Mr. SMITH BEN and Ms. Catriya (case number 31/2569), the court froze assets estimated at about 12.123 billion baht on 26 February 2026. This represented by far the largest share of the total value targeted in the four proceedings.
Additional cases against Chen Zhi, Kok An and Uea Angkoon
In the case against Mr. Chen Zhi and others (case number F 25/2569), the Civil Court ordered on 25 February 2026 a provisional freeze on assets worth around 345 million baht. On the same day, in the case of Mr. Kok An and others (case number F 29/2569), the court decided to freeze assets valued at about 560 million baht.
In an earlier ruling on 24 February 2026, the court had already ordered the freezing of approximately 46 million baht in the case of Mr. Uea Angkoon and others (case number F 20/2569). All four matters were handled under the framework of the country’s anti-money laundering legislation.
Sale of luxury assets and possible victim redress
If individual assets such as vehicles or yachts could not be reasonably stored or would place a disproportionate burden on the state, the AMLO secretary-general could order their sale under Section 57 (2) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542. Proceeds from such sales would be preserved as liquid funds.
At the same time, AMLO was working to identify potential victims of the underlying offences and collect evidence. The aim was to enable the Office of the Attorney-General to ask the court to return assets or funds to victims instead of assigning them permanently to the state.