{"id":19068,"date":"2021-06-16T14:29:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T14:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=19068"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:30:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T21:30:59","slug":"thailand-6-arrested-for-illegal-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailand-6-arrested-for-illegal-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Thailand: 6 arrested for illegal gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Police arrested six people in a raid on an alleged illegal gambling den in Southern Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Thailand.-&nbsp;<strong>Authorities in Thailand have raided an alleged gambling operation<\/strong> taking place at a house in <strong>Chawang District<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested six people and seized various gambling cards and cash. Officers reported that those arrested tried to run away&nbsp;through a back door during the raid but were caught and arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group has been charged with&nbsp;<strong>colluding in gambling&nbsp;<\/strong>and illegal gathering during a pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to local media, Covid-19 cases in the province are rising especially because of illegal gambling venues.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In May,&nbsp;<strong>officers made a series of arrests<\/strong>&nbsp;connected to alleged&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailand-19-arrested-over-alleged-online-gambling-network\">online gambling sites<\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>operating from Bangkok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eight men and 11 women&nbsp;<\/strong>were arrested. Officers believe the online gambling network had a monthly circulation of US$3m in bets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to police, those arrested had rented three condominium rooms in one building from where they&nbsp;<strong>conducted online gambling operations through the website PGSLOT889.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<strong>police seized 30 monitors, 8 computers, 27 mobile phones, 17 ATM cards&nbsp;<\/strong>and seven bank account books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Online gambling is illegal in Thailand. However, according to local media,&nbsp;<strong>Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is considering the possibility of legalisation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In April officers from the&nbsp;<strong>Crime Suppression Division (CSD)<\/strong>&nbsp;made a series of arrests over alleged&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailand-16-arrested-over-alleged-online-gambling-network\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">online gambling sites<\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>operating from Nang Rong, a town in the northeastern province of Buriram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those arrested had rented a house to open an office but are accused of&nbsp;<strong>operating 10 online gambling websites, including www.sajoker123.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Is gambling legal in Thailand?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Virtually<strong>&nbsp;all types of gambling are illegal in Thailand<\/strong>, except for betting on horseraces or the government-sponsored Thai lottery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an effort<strong>&nbsp;to combat all kinds of illegal gambling, the police often carry out raids&nbsp;<\/strong>on gambling dens and centres operations that offer online betting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the gambling act, which was first passed in 1930,&nbsp;<strong>casinos are banned in Thailand<\/strong>. Thailand remains one of only three ASEAN nations with no legal casinos, alongside Indonesia and Brunei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In January,&nbsp;<strong>prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha<\/strong>&nbsp;has said he may consider the option of&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailand-may-debate-legalisation-of-gambling\">legalising gambling<\/a>&nbsp;in the country as a measure to tackle the problem of illegal gambling dens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the prime minister, a legal gambling sector is increasingly being seen as a potential solution to the growing problem of&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailand-21-arrested-at-illegal-casino-in-pattaya\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>illegal gambling<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, <strong>James Kaplan<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>CEO of Destination Capital<\/strong>, a Bangkok based private equity real estate investment and asset management company, expressed his doubts regarding<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/analysts-doubt-thailand-will-legalise-gambling\">&nbsp;possible gambling legalization<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kaplan said: \u201cThailand is somewhat of an enigma clouding the public perception of freewheeling fun and party tourist destination with the cultural reality of a very&nbsp;<strong>conservative society.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cReligious beliefs and respect together with conservative family values pervade Thai culture. Buddhism is the fundamental base of the education and belief system, and for most people, gaming is a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another executive, who remained anonymous, told media sources that gambling legalisation is unlikely as many of the illegal gambling dens are known to be under the protection of&nbsp;<strong>local police and other&nbsp;<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/officals-linked-to-illegal-gambling-dens-in-thailand\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>powerful figures<\/em><\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;who&nbsp;<strong>earn huge sums from their operation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are also concerns that if gambling were legalised, the industry&nbsp;<strong>would not be able to attract foreign investors<\/strong>&nbsp;since Thai laws prohibit foreigners from owning land or owning more than 49 per cent of a Thai company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kaplan said: \u201cThailand needs to reinvent itself. You need gaming as a way of bringing in fresh activities and a fresh new market, as well as spending on infrastructure so it rises the tide for everyone.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Police arrested six people in a raid on an alleged illegal gambling den in Southern Thailand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":19096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Thai authorities have conducted multiple raids on illegal gambling operations, both physical and online, leading to numerous arrests and asset seizures, highlighting the pervasive issue of illicit gaming. Concurrently, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is reportedly considering gambling legalization as a measure to combat the illegal market, though industry experts express skepticism due to Thailand's conservative culture, potential corruption, and foreign ownership restrictions.","focusai_entities":"Thai Police, Prayut Chan-o-cha, James Kaplan, Destination Capital, PGSLOT889.com, www.sajoker123.com","focusai_location":"Thailand, Chawang District, Bangkok, Buriram, Nang Rong, Indonesia, Brunei","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Thailand Legalization Outlook","query":"What specific legislative or policy changes would be required to overcome the cultural and foreign ownership barriers currently impeding gambling legalization in Thailand?"},{"label":"Impact on ASEAN Market","query":"How would the potential legalization of gambling in Thailand impact the competitive landscape and GGR projections for existing regulated markets within the ASEAN region?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[229,23911],"class_list":["post-19068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling","tag-gambling-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19068"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19097,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19068\/revisions\/19097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}