The global intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has agreed to remove Thailand from its "grey list" following the passage of two bills to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) secretary-general Sihanart Prayoonrat announced the decision on Wednesday.
The FATF earlier agreed to upgrade Thailand's status from "dark grey'' to "grey''.
Mr Sihanart said the process of removing Thailand from the list will not be completed until FATF experts have certified the amended laws are being fully enforced,
The intergovernmental organisation is tasked with combating money laundering and terrorism financing worldwide. It listed Thailand as a grey offender early last year for its failure to respond properly to its suggestions to introduce stronger measures to block money laundering, which is a source of financial support for terrorists.
With Thailand being on the blacklist, Thai businesses found making international financial transactions much more difficult.
This prompted the government to put two amending bills to the parliament. The amendment bills were recently passed by parliament.
Pol Col Sihanart said a team of FATF experts would visit Thailand in May this year to check on enforcement procedures and ensure the country has issued ministerial regulations and put in place methods to concretely enforce the two laws. They would decide whether enforcement of the laws was effective and whether financial institutions were fully complying.
If Thailand is deemed to have fully met the requirements, they would recommend the FATF completely remove Thailand from the list at its meeting in June, he added.
The decision was made at the FATF meeting in Paris on Friday.
In February last year, FATF named Thailand as one of 15 countries designated "high risk'' due to its failure to take adequate steps against money laundering and terrorist financing.