Thailand, Malaysia Breaking Gaming Whips Online
Thai police conducted raids in multiple cities earlier this month which resulted in the arrest of 25 suspects accused of operating six illegal online gambling sites focused on a 'UFA' brand. Police confiscated the normal crop of laptops, phones and cash and then moved the suspects to questioning in Bangkok.
Leads produced from those interrogations culminated in four more suspects being arrested in Bangkok this week, including the suspected ringleader, 24-year-old Tantai Narongkul, who allegedly confessed to running nine illegal sites identified with UFA, Sexygame and SSgame variants.
A considerably larger shipment of material goods, including 11 luxury vehicles worth a combined THB75m (US$2.4m) and THB1m in cash, followed the arrests this week. Tantai's ring reportedly enjoyed THB15b (US$480m) revenue from the gambling ring, which based its servers outside the region, over the past six months.
Police said Tantai advertised its gaming sites by uploading short videos on unauthorized file-sharing pages. Last year, Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) started cracking down on thai-speaking file sharing sites where up to 16% of commercials advertised gambling goods.
There are no online alternatives for Thailand's small legal gambling industry, just a moderate lottery run by the state. Until recently, casino gamblers living along the border with Cambodia had the opportunity to cross to play in Poipet's several small casinos, but that avenue of leisure was cut off this spring when Thailand sealed its boundaries because of COVID-19.
Malaysia Anti-Gambling Police Ensnare Operations
Meanwhile, distrust reigns around Thailand's southern border as the Malaysian authorities seek to flush out corrupt cops who shield illegal online gambling operations.
The fun began earlier this month when Kuala Lumpur police detained 37 people accused of serving as a digital support platform for hundreds of online gaming applications. The center, which posed as a software development company, has allegedly helped direct cash gambling across seven banks in neighboring countries.
A week later, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reported that it had detained "at least seven senior Kuala Lumpur police officers" who were accused of supporting illicit online gambling and money laundering operations related to a local cartel. Later news, however, indicated that the officers were merely recalled for interrogation and not detained formally.
On Sunday, MACC agreed to release nine of the citizens detained on bail, a decision opposed by the Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The CID soon rearrested three of the nine, detaining them under the Prevention of Crime Act. A director of the CID said the group are being arrested "to support police inquiries into an alleged online gaming operation", but there are many reasons to think this isn't the end of the case.
