{"id":777029948,"date":"2025-08-06T08:40:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777029948"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T23:22:13","slug":"thai-government-repeats-stance-on-poker-legalisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thai-government-repeats-stance-on-poker-legalisation","title":{"rendered":"Thai government stress poker legalisation only applies to official tournaments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government has repeated its clarification that the legalisation does not apply to casual or unsanctioned poker games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Thailand.- The government has repeated its clarification that its move to lift a ban on poker<\/a> does not amount to a legalisation of gambling and only applies to sanctioned tournaments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effective from July 30, the directive signed by repeals a 1958 ban to allow poker to be played legally only during specific, pre-approved tournaments overseen by a forthcoming Poker Sports Association. Tourism and sports minister Sorawong Thienthong stressed that this is \u201cnot full deregulation” and that casual or unsanctioned poker games remain illegal. \u201cIf it involves betting or lacks official approval, it\u2019s illegal,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) had proposed poker\u2019s recognition as a competitive sport to attract international events. Formalities, including demonstration events and finalised documentation, are expected to take about a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ministry stressed that a dedicated national association must be established to regulate and supervise poker events, which must adhere to legal and ethical guidelines. \u201cThere\u2019s no urgency,\u201d added Sorawong. \u201cWe\u2019re following proper procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cWe are not trying to legalise gambling. Globally, poker is already adopted as a sport. I expect it will eventually be recognised in events like the Asian Games,\u201d said Sorawong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move is unrelated to the stalled Entertainment Complex Bill<\/a>, which aims to legalise casinos in Thailand. Gambling remains a criminal offence.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Thailand legalises poker for international tournaments\u00a0<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government has repeated its clarification that the legalisation does not apply to casual or unsanctioned poker games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777029951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Thailand has clarified its recent directive, legalizing poker exclusively for sanctioned tournaments under a forthcoming Poker Sports Association, effective July 30. This move, driven by the Sports Authority of Thailand, is explicitly not a full deregulation of gambling and does not apply to casual play, aiming instead to recognize poker as a competitive sport for international events.","focusai_entities":"Sorawong Thienthong, Poker Sports Association, Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT)","focusai_location":"Thailand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.8), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.85), operator_casino (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.8), gambler_consumer (0.7), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Governance Framework Details","query":"What specific governance frameworks and licensing requirements will the forthcoming Poker Sports Association implement to ensure regulatory compliance and integrity for sanctioned tournaments?"},{"label":"Market Entry Strategy","query":"How might this limited legalization of competitive poker influence the long-term market entry strategies for B2B suppliers and B2C operators considering the broader Thai iGaming landscape?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16333],"tags":[225,59,342],"class_list":["post-777029948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-legislation","tag-poker","tag-thailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029948","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777029948"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777029975,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029948\/revisions\/777029975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777029951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777029948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777029948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777029948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}