BANGKOK — On Tuesday, Thai police successfully carried out major raids targeting foreign-operated online gambling networks in Bangkok, dismantling both Taiwanese and Chinese operations.
The first raid, led by Thailand’s Cyber Police and Police Lieutenant General Trairong Phiwphan, targeted a Taiwanese gambling network with daily transactions of approximately $300,000. The network, disguised as an NFT trading platform, was found to be running illegal gambling activities such as slots, fishing games, live casino, sports betting, and poker. Over 20 Taiwanese nationals were arrested, along with several administrators.
The investigation began after youth complaints regarding gambling links embedded in cartoon websites. The suspects, including Mr. Yaoyi (50), Mr. I-Teng (34), and Mr. Chungfeng (23), as well as a 21-year-old Thai national, Thanakit, and a 45-year-old Myanmar citizen, denied the allegations, claiming they were selling digital art. Authorities discovered 18 Thai administrators who were unknowingly recruited through Facebook and tasked with daily money transfers for the gambling operation.
During the raid, police seized 33 mobile phones, international bank accounts, a Mercedes Benz, cryptocurrency seed phrases, SIM cards, and physical currency in various currencies including Thai baht, Laotian kip, and Vietnamese dong.
In a separate operation, Tourist Police arrested three Chinese nationals at a luxury condominium in Huai Khwang. The suspects were allegedly operating an online gambling platform named “dafabet,” connected to grey-market Chinese operators in Cambodia. The Chinese suspects had approximately 200,000 gambling accounts with daily transactions of $57,000. Police seized computers, phones, OTP tokens, crystal methamphetamine, and ammunition.
Lieutenant General Trairong emphasized that while Thailand values legitimate tourism, law enforcement will continue to crack down on criminal activities, likening their role to that of a “screen door” in filtering out criminal elements.
All suspects face charges related to illegal gambling operations and money laundering, with additional drug and weapons charges for the Chinese suspects.
