• Subscribe
  • Magazines
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Thursday 26 June 2025
  • zh-hant 中文
  • ja 日本語
  • en English
IAG
Advertisement
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
No Result
View All Result

Thailand’s Gambling ‘Vice’ Strong as Ever

Newsdesk by Newsdesk
Tue 17 Jun 2014 at 00:57
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Police in Thailand say they have shut down 391 foreign and local Web sites and arrested 58 people, including seven suspected bookmakers, in a crackdown on illegal betting on the World Cup.

Police Lieutenant-General Anat Sirhiran, who is in charge of the police section assigned to tackle the country’s vast gambling underground, said authorities are monitoring and blocking all attempts to reopen the sites under new URLs, according to the news site AsiaOne.

However, another top police officer, a colonel who serves as a superintendent of the government’s High Tech Crime Unit, recently sounded a different note, saying blacklisting gambling sites is not a priority for his unit, for the simple reason that the amount of filtering necessary would make accessing the Internet “painfully slow” for the rest of the country. True Money, Thailand’s largest online payment processor, said much the same in a recent report in the English-language Bangkok Post.

In Thailand, where Buddhist norms dictate the prohibition of all forms of gambling except horseracing and lottery, a 2013 survey by the Center of Gambling Studies at Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University found that 57% of its 5,000 respondents admitted to being gamblers, with those betting on football spending an average of 260,000 baht a year (US$8,000).

Nationally, about 80% of bets are handled through networks of agents and sub-agents. Four major entities control most of the action, according to a researcher with the Faculty of Economics at Dhurakij Pundit University in Bangkok, who told the Post that leading second-tier operatives often handle wagers exceeding 80 million baht ($2.4 million) a month.

The political unrest in Thailand may have compounded the problems authorities are facing with the onset of the World Cup. Reports are that Thais have been reluctant since the military coup to cross into Cambodia to feed their passion in the dozens of small casinos along the border where they contribute more than 90% of revenues. Operators in the border town of Poipet say the number of Thai patrons has dropped by almost half since the May coup, an observation borne out by statistics from the international checkpoint there, which show the number of people passing through declining from an average of about 1,500 a day to about 700.

Concerns that a lot of this money will wash into illegal channels back home prompted the military government to resort to national television to publicly instruct the army and police to be on the lookout for bookmakers. They were warned that failure to act would result in disciplinary action and/or criminal punishment. It wasn’t long after that the commissioner of police for the north-central province of Phitsanulok swiftly removed four high-ranking officers from active duty after soldiers busted a local gambling den. In the resort enclave of Pattaya, six Australians and a New Zealander recently were arrested on charges of running an illegal betting operation out of a bar.

At the same time, the chorus of those who question the wisdom of prohibition is growing, among them the colonel at the High Tech Crimes Unit, who complained that Thailand is “stuck in the mindset that gambling is a vice under Buddhism” and suggested that maybe it’s time to “look around and accept that the world has changed”.

RelatedPosts

Mixed messages as Thailand promises to push through casino bill before postponing first parliamentary reading on “lack of public understanding”

Mixed messages as Thailand promises to push through casino bill before postponing first parliamentary reading on “lack of public understanding”

Wed 25 Jun 2025 at 20:02
Seaport Research: Thai casino regulations won’t be suitable for US operator involvement

Thailand’s move to recriminalize cannabis highlights casino operator concerns over regulatory instability

Wed 25 Jun 2025 at 05:53
Global operators asked to register interest as New Zealand moves forward with online gambling regulation

Global operators asked to register interest as New Zealand moves forward with online gambling regulation

Tue 24 Jun 2025 at 06:25
Foreign tourists among those banned by Thailand from travelling to Cambodia to gamble

Foreign tourists among those banned by Thailand from travelling to Cambodia to gamble

Tue 24 Jun 2025 at 06:02
Load More
Tags: online gamblingThailand
Share1Share
Newsdesk

Newsdesk

Current Issue

Editorial – Foreigner-only casinos: Seize the day

Editorial – Foreigner-only casinos: Seize the day

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 29 May 2025 at 13:38

I was recently asked by someone working at a foreigner-only casino for my thoughts on the outlook for the Asian...

On the brink

On the brink

by Pierce Chan
Thu 29 May 2025 at 13:27

The transition period for Macau’s 11 satellite casinos is set to expire at the end of this year, after which...

A moral defense of gambling

A moral defense of gambling

by Andrew Russell
Wed 28 May 2025 at 18:19

Economist Andrew Russell explores the differences between community benefit and in-principle arguments for the existence of a legal gambling industry...

Face to face

Face to face

by Ben Blaschke
Wed 28 May 2025 at 18:08

Konami caught the eye at the recent G2E Asia show in Macau with its SYNK Vision Tables, which utilize facial...

Evolution Asia
Aristocrat
GLI
SABA
Mindslot
Solaire
Hann
Tecnet
NWR
Jumbo
568Win

Related Posts

Mixed messages as Thailand promises to push through casino bill before postponing first parliamentary reading on “lack of public understanding”

Mixed messages as Thailand promises to push through casino bill before postponing first parliamentary reading on “lack of public understanding”

by Ben Blaschke
Wed 25 Jun 2025 at 20:02

The Thai government said Wednesday it would postpone the first parliamentary reading of its Entertainment Complex Bill – just hours after promising to push ahead despite holding the slimmest of majorities following the departure this week of the Bhumjaithai Party...

Buyer of Macau’s THE 13 Hotel plans extensive renovations, addition of world-renowned restaurants

Buyer of Macau’s THE 13 Hotel plans extensive renovations, addition of world-renowned restaurants

by Pierce Chan
Wed 25 Jun 2025 at 18:49

The buyer of Macau’s long embattled THE 13 Hotel has promised to undertake extensive renovations, including the addition of world-renowned restaurants, according to details provided by real estate agent JLL. It also revealed that the purchase price was HK$600 million...

Macau sports betting concessionaire Macau SLOT sees profit grow 32% to US$15.7 million in 2021

Macau sports betting operator Macau SLOT reports US$16 million profit in 2024, new one-year concession granted

by Pierce Chan
Wed 25 Jun 2025 at 14:07

Macau SLOT – Macau’s only sports betting concessionaire – reported a profit of MOP$130 million (US$16.1 million) in 2024, representing a slight 5.5% increase compared to 2023. The company also revealed it has been granted a one-year extension to its...

The Star Sydney’s casino license in limbo as final report from second inquiry handed to regulator

Star Entertainment Group shareholders give approval to AU$300 million Bally’s rescue package

by Ben Blaschke
Wed 25 Jun 2025 at 13:50

Star Entertainment Group shareholders have overwhelmingly voted in favor of an AU$300 million (US$195 million) rescue proposal by US casino operator Bally’s Corp and local investor Investment Holdings. At a General Meeting held on Wednesday morning, 99.36% of eligible shareholders...



IAG

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • NEWSFEED
  • MAG ARTICLES
  • VIDEO
  • OPINION
  • TAGS
  • REGIONAL
  • EVENTS
  • CONSULTING
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About
  • Home for G2E Asia

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • English