In response to the massive Panama Papers leak, which has revealed the names of individuals linked to 214,000 companies which park their money overseas, Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering Office announced on Friday that it would investigate those whose names appear.
Without giving names, Amlo acting secretary-general Seehanat Prayoonrat said the office is verifying the massive document leak from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in establishing offshore companies. Mr Seehanat said there were 16 Thai nationals among 21 people based in Thailand. They are said to include former and current politicians as well as business people.
The reports are based on the leak of millions of documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, about 2.6 terabytes of data that was sent anonymously to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and made available to about 400 journalists via the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. After a year of work, the journalists made their findings public last week, and the ramifications were widespread and immediate. Political leaders from David Cameron to Vladimir Putin have come under pressure for their connections to Mossack Fonseca, and the leaks have also claimed the scalp of former Icelandic prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.
In Thailand, Amlo's investigation is in its preliminary stage and the office said it was too early to determine whether any of the Thais named in the documents have engaged in money laundering. In fact, Mr Seehanat stressed the individuals whose names appear in the documents are not necessarily guilty of committing any crime.
Despite ethical concerns regarding tax avoidance, offshore businesses are legal. Some companies choose to have an offshore presence to enable them to operate multinational businesses with greater flexibility.
Some companies argue that they set up overseas corporations to cushion the impact of fluctuating foreign exchange rates. Others claim they set up offshore businesses to avoid the complicated tax system in Thailand.
At any rate, Thai authorities cannot turn a blind eye to the leaks, as there is the potential that some are involved in money laundering -- it is not beyond the realm of possibility that such company structures are used to facilitate serious crimes such as bribery and corruption, human trafficking and the narcotics trade.
An offshore presence may be routine for Thai companies, but the Amlo investigation should pay attention to politicians and government officials who don't have businesses to find out why these individuals need to park their money overseas.
Public figures should set a good example for people and they should stay away from such dubious practices.
The leak has also brought global attention to the inability of government authorities to trace money beyond their borders. Offshore companies should not be the tool for people to illegally convert, transfer or conceal their wealth or wash money from bribery and corruption.
The government has repeatedly said it wants to tackle the illegal activities by the so-called "mafia" or "influential people". Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha even invoked Section 44 to suppress suspected criminal activity.
But there is a more effective way to suppress criminal networks than arresting individuals such as local loan sharks who lend a couple of thousand to their neighbours.
Instead of catching the small fish, the effort should concentrate on the money trail to ascertain the real influential people involved in illegal activities as they are often laundering their ill-gotten gains overseas. Thailand's campaign against corruption will not be realised unless the authorities can prevent individuals from hiding the assets that they cannot explain.
The public outcry over the Panama Papers also stems from a feeling of injustice among the general public.
US president President Barack Obama said the Mossack Fonseca leak illustrated the scale of tax avoidance involving Fortune 500 companies, which runs to trillions of dollars worldwide.
The uproar over the Panama Papers may fade if authorities cannot find sufficient proof that any offshore operation has been involved in illegal activity. But the exposure should prompt the international community to address tax avoidance.
"There is no doubt that the problem of global tax avoidance generally is a huge problem," Mr Obama said. "The problem is that a lot of this stuff is legal, not illegal."
More often than not, big corporations can take advantage of the system in a way that comes at the expense of smaller ones. In an ideal world, a business should prosper along with the community it belongs to. The payment of taxes should represent a repayment to society. Even if it is perfectly legal, tax avoidance should not be regarded as the norm.