There was no direct evidence that international terrorist groups were directly involved in attacks within Thailand, nor was there any evidence of operational linkages between the southern Thai insurgent groups and international terrorist networks.

Political conflict from 2010, which produced violence resulting in 92 deaths, did not resurface in 2011 despite a significant shift in political power. Some alleged violent actors from this period were accused of terrorism and then charged under the terrorist-based provisions of the criminal code. A respected member of Thailand's Truth for Reconciliation Commission termed the accusations inflated, and discussion continued whether the charges were politically motivated or based on substantive violent acts. Nonetheless one low-ranking former police officer was sentenced to 38 years imprisonment on domestic terrorism and related charges in December.

Countering Terrorism Finance: Thailand is a member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body. In 2010, the Thai government expressed high-level political commitment to addressing deficiencies that the FATF identified in Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering/Counterterrorist Finance (AML/CTF) regime, and reported taking multiple steps to address FATF recommendations. This commitment appeared firm throughout 2011, despite the change in political leadership. Nonetheless, an attempt to introduce a revision of the Financing of Terrorism Act remained stalled in the legislature at year's end. Thailand's new government adopted the 2010-2015 National Strategy for Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism originally developed by the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), Thailand's official Financial Intelligence Unit. The 2010-2015 National Strategy called for the legislative enactment of key CTF measures by October 31, but this was delayed as a result of widespread flooding and political transitions.

Thailand lacked a comprehensive legal framework for monitoring and supervising non-profit organizations. The AMLO's 2010-2015 National Strategy for Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism specifically calls for enhanced measures to provide for greater transparency and oversight of non-profit organizations by December 2014. More specifically, the 2010-2015 National Strategy calls for implementation of appropriate licensing procedures, supervision, monitoring, and oversight in line with international standards. This includes ensuring that information on the operations of each non-profit organization is publicly available. The Bank of Thailand does not have regulations that give it explicit authorization to control charitable donations; however, the Financial Institutions Business Act and the Electronic Payment Services Business Decree require all financial institutions and non-bank service providers to adopt both know-your-customer rules and customer due diligence procedures for all clients, and must meet the Anti-Money Laundering Act's reporting requirements, which would include transactions deriving from charitable donations.

For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the 2011 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Regional and International Cooperation: Thailand participated in international counterterrorism efforts through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN Regional Forum, the Asia-Europe Meeting, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral, Technical, and Economic Cooperation, and other multilateral fora. Thailand, along with the U.S. Pacific Command, co-hosted 11 countries for the annual Pacific Area Security Sector Working Group.

Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism: A range of Thai government agencies, including the Ministries of Interior and of Social Development and Human Security, and the Thai military and police academies continued to organize outreach programs to ethnic Malay-Muslims to counter radicalization and violent extremism. A small group of international non-governmental organizations also reached out to communities in the southern provinces to provide services and to identify the underlying causes of the area's violence.

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