Popular influencer Mod Oi admits to promoting illegal online gambling after Thai crackdown
In an escalating crackdown on illegal gambling promotion, Thai authorities issued orders to summon about 30 celebrities and influencers, including Phannarai Khemmi, commonly known as Mod Oi, a popular and sexy influencer with 1.1 million followers on Twitter.
Mod Oi today appeared at the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) headquarters in Nonthaburi province with her boyfriend, accepting the accusations of promoting online gambling after publicly encouraging people to enlist in gambling websites.
After being accused and questioned, Mod Oi admitted that she had indeed posted an invitation to gamble, paid at a rate of 700 baht (US$20) every day, making one post a day, earning her approximately 20,000 baht (US$587) per month since last February. The influencer revealed that the contact about the job was made through the LINE app, and money was exchanged in various locations, not through a bank transfer.
Mod Oi, who had been contacted by about two gambling websites, expressed her ignorance regarding the unlawful nature of the Twitter posts but had since deactivated her account following a summons from the police.
Aside from this, Mod Oi was concerned about numerous fake Twitter and Facebook accounts proliferating under her name, displaying nude and explicit images while encouraging online gambling. She alerted the public not to be deceived by these bogus platforms and their deceptive gambits and links. The youthful social media star had brought in documentation to file a report against the creators of these phoney accounts and platforms and warned citizens not to believe such misleading platforms.
Police had so far pursued cases against five influencers and summoned two more to the Technology Crime Suppression Division apart from Mod Oi, all listed amongst around 30 names identified with clear violations. The police have been summoning people consistently to acknowledge the charges, and the investigations into the operators or owners of these gambling websites remain ongoing. Furthermore, the famous music artist Rattaya Si Nakorn, known as Nes, owner of the popular song “เปิดใจให้ขี้เหล้าแน่,” viewed over 43 million times, was summoned following public posts encouraging people to join online gambling sites.
At this moment, cyber police had taken charges against seven social media influencers in total, including Pound Nipon, Cherry Sam Khok, and Nak Nak, amongst others. The court had sentenced five influencers to two-month imprisonment, KhaoSod reported.
In related news, the CCIB raided 12 key locations to take down GALAXY959, an online gambling network, seizing luxury vehicles and incriminating evidence. This high-stakes operation circulated billions of baht. To read more click HERE.
