In February 2021, the Thai government approved a Draft Act on the Operations of Not-for-Profit Organizations. In June 2021, the government put forward a set of eight principles to inform the already restrictive draft law further. While the authorities justified those with AML/CFT requirements, these principles do not actually comply with FATF standards on AML/CFT and there were concerns that they cannot be implemented in a risk-based, targeted and proportionate manner.
For example, the draft law sets overly broad and complex registration and reporting requirements for CSOs. Such provisions could easily be misused to obstruct legitimate CSO activities or even to shut down groups fully. Some of the key concerns with the law included:
- overly broad definition of nonprofit organisations, mandatory registration, potential criminal prosecution and penalties, including imprisonment, for non-compliance;
- burdensome reporting requirements;
- blanket restrictions on foreign funding to CSOs;
- no possibility of appeal.
The international community, civil society and UN Special Rapporteurs alike, spoke out against the restrictive bill. The written analyses submitted to the Thai government, but also to FATF, raised detailed concerns with the bill, which if adopted, would be incompatible with international law. Thai CSOs, too, urged the government to withdraw the bill. In their open letter of December 2021 they point out that the excessively broad provisions could have a significant, detrimental impact on civil society work in Thailand, but also beyond, jeopardising the country’s status as a regional hub for CSO work in Southeast Asia.
After strong criticism from home and abroad, the Thai cabinet revised the bill in December 2021 and approved a new, somewhat less restrictive version in January 2022. The bill was open for public comments in February 2022.
Update 2023: See updates on the ICNL Civic Freedom Monitor here.
