Educational Information Only
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AMLA Section 51 — Forfeiture order, claimants and proceeds
Anti-Money Laundering Act (พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการฟอกเงิน) — Section 51.
Plain-English Summary
A person claiming to own property the prosecutor asks the court to forfeit may apply before the court rules, and must show the court either that they are the true owner and the property is not connected with an offence, or that they received it in good faith and for value, or in good faith and consistently with morality or public charity (Section 50). If the court is satisfied that the property is connected with an offence and the claim fails, it orders the property to vest in the State. Cash, and money arising from managing seized or frozen property, is split half to the AML Fund and half to the Ministry of Finance; other property is dealt with under Cabinet rules. Where the claimant is or was connected with the predicate or laundering offender, the Act presumes the property is connected with an offence or was received in bad faith (third paragraph).
Official Text
Official Thai text at the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State. Translation summary only.
Consult official sourceParent Statute
Anti-Money Laundering Act
พระราชบัญญัติป้องกันและปราบปรามการฟอกเงิน · B.E. 2542 (1999)
The Anti-Money Laundering Act B.E. 2542 (1999) makes money laundering (Section 5) an offence by reference to a list of predicate offences (ความผิดมูลฐาน) in Section 3, and is administered through the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), a government agency established by Section 40. Financial institutions must report cash, high-value and suspicious transactions (Section 13); listed professions and businesses must report cash and suspicious transactions (Section 16); and customer identification and due diligence apply to both groups (Sections 20 and 20/1). Tipping-off is prohibited (Section 21/1, penalty in Section 66). Property connected with an offence can be provisionally seized or frozen (Section 48) and, on the public prosecutor's petition to the Civil Court, forfeited to the State (Sections 49 and 59). The monetary reporting thresholds are set by ministerial regulation, not in the Act. The Act can reach other finance-related businesses through the ministerial-regulation limb of the definition of financial institution in Section 3, limb (6).
The summary above is a plain-English educational paraphrase of Section 51 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. It is not an authoritative translation. For the binding Thai text, consult the Royal Gazette or the Office of the Council of State. Educational use only — not a substitute for advice from a Thai-qualified lawyer.
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