Thai police make 12,000 gambling arrests during World Cup 2022

Thailand‘s anti-gambling laws did not deter Thais from placing bets on the FIFA World Cup 2022. In fact, the Royal Thai Police made more than 12,000 gambling arrests between November 19 and December 18, 2022.

Nearly all forms of gambling are illegal in Thailand, apart from the government-sponsored lottery, according to the Gambling Act (1935).

Anticipating violation of this law on a mass scale during the World Cup 2022, the RTP set up a gambling suppression centre, led by Pol. Gen. Torsak Sukhwimon, specifically to combat illegal football betting during the tournament.

On Tuesday, Torsak announced the closure of the centre and reported a summary of the centre’s work during the past month…

The policeman said there were 12,245 gambling arrests made for betting on the World Cup results between November 19 and December 18.

Police seized cash, houses, land, luxury vehicles and watches amassing a total value of 1.7 billion baht from illicit gamblers.

The police estimate that Thais bet a whopping 11 billion baht in total on the World Cup’s 64 matches.

The RTP thanked members of the public who snitched on World Cup gamblers and assisted them in cracking down on such criminals.

Just because the World Cup 2022 is over, Thais will continue to gamble, said Pornsak. The policeman advises parents and guardians to keep close surveillance on their children to ensure they do not get caught up in gambling.

If you have information about a gambling crime, you can inform the Royal Thai Police via 191 or 1599 or any local police station 24 hours a day.

Last week, a celebrity Thai couple were arrested for operating illegal porn and gambling sites.

Thai soap star Thamolphan Phanuchitputthiwong, better known as “Yam” Thamonphan, and her computer-whizz husband Phumphat Prasertwit were denied bail by the Criminal Court who deemed the accused of being big flight risks.