This is fairly alarming information. During a keynote address at The INTANIA Forum 2026 last week, Mr. Vitai Ratanakorn, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, revealed in part of his remarks that enormous quantities of high-denomination banknotes have disappeared from the system over time, and that this is a major factor "dragging down" economic growth, as well as being the root cause of widespread fraud and corruption.
Earlier, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) Governor disclosed information that attracted significant attention, stating that two series of 1,000-baht banknotes — each approximately 20 to 30 years old — with a combined value of around 140 billion baht, have not flowed back into the financial system in the normal manner. This reflects the possibility that a portion of the cash may be held outside the formal economy, or circulating in transactions that bypass financial institutions. The BOT emphasised that this figure is a "signal of abnormality," not a conclusion that all of it constitutes illegal money.
At the same time, the BOT is pressing ahead with strengthening measures to curb grey capital, preparing to tighten controls on large-value cash deposits and bulk banknote exchanges, and coordinating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to examine the use of digital assets — particularly USDT — in which a large number of suspicious transactions have been detected, with data analysis systems being used to closely track financial flows.
It was also disclosed that within a period of just five months, USDT transactions flagged as suspicious amounted to approximately 250 billion baht, representing around 40% of the transactions brought under scrutiny. However, that figure refers to transactions deemed abnormal and requiring further investigation — it does not mean that all of them are illegal transactions.
The BOT Governor stated that Thailand's current economic problem is not a lack of capital, but rather inefficient resource allocation, or "misallocation," whereby a portion of capital does not flow into high-potential business sectors but instead circulates within the informal economy, "grey capital," and transactions that are difficult to audit. It is therefore necessary to urgently reform the financial system's structure and close its loopholes in tandem. This marks one of the first times that information of this nature has been disclosed by such an important financial "regulator" as the Governor of the Bank of Thailand, and the revelation that 1,000-baht notes have been disappearing from the normal system and flowing into the "informal economy" or "grey capital" — which is spreading and growing within Thailand — is notable indeed.
One particularly interesting measure that is expected to be capable of disciplining grey capital, corruption money, and illegal businesses is banknote demonetisation — a measure that a government or central bank may adopt by declaring that certain types or denominations of banknotes are no longer "legal tender." A grace period may be set, however, during which the public can exchange old banknotes for new ones or deposit them through the banking system.
This measure differs from a routine new banknote issue, because demonetisation aims to give existing banknotes held by the public an expiry date for their use. If they are not exchanged or deposited within the stipulated conditions, the money in question can no longer be used to purchase goods, settle debts, or circulate within the economy.
Naturally, the alarming information described above is clearly linked to "grey capital," and with a value exceeding 140 billion baht, it inevitably causes enormous damage to the national economy, producing an impact in the form of lost tax revenue. At the same time, if illegal businesses of this kind are allowed to continue expanding and growing, the consequences will extend beyond the economic sphere — including the issue of economic growth that the BOT Governor identified as the cause of persistently low growth over many years, and particularly as the reason Thailand's growth has long remained "below its potential." If no serious corrective action is taken, it is believed that security risks will follow as well.
At the same time, whenever "grey capital" and the informal economy are discussed, it is unavoidable that they must be linked to "political groups" in our own country — particularly the various "influential clans" that fall within the orbit of said "grey businesses," and which are also part of "corruption networks," including vote-buying, all of which have long been an ingrained image in Thai society.
Now that such alarming and nationally negative information has been brought to light, what must be watched closely going forward is how the public sector — and in particular the government — responds. Specifically, will Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Deputy Prime Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, in his capacity as Minister of Finance, issue a swift and official response? Because up to this point, no reaction of any kind has been seen from either of them.
This is despite the fact that the government has previously announced an "overhaul" of the economic system in order to lift the country out of the middle-income trap and into the ranks of high-income or developed nations, including the announcement of the "5T" principle: Target — focusing resources precisely where they are needed; Transition — moving toward a new economy; Transform — restructuring the economic framework so that growth reaches SMEs, communities, and workers; Transparency — using digital technology to create operational transparency; and Together — uniting the state, the private sector, the public, and entrepreneurs.
Therefore, now that this alarming information has come to light, the path forward depends on whether the government — and in particular the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance — will be serious about supporting measures to address "grey capital" at the root, or whether things will simply drift along in the manner of politics past, out of fear of upsetting the apple cart because of concern that it might implicate the "influential clans" close to home!!
