Police in Thailand have raided the home of the suspected leader of an illegal gambling website, seizing cash and luxury cars.
The Bangkok Post reports that Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) executed a search warrant on a house in the Khlong Neung area of Bangkok. Thai authorities arrested Thaween Prayoonnikor, 30, who it is alleged is the manager of the illegal gaming website Auto888vip.com.
Pictures from the raid showed police recovering 28m baht (approximately £645,000) in cash, which was stored around the suspects house in a safe or travel bags.
In addition, Police seized a Mercedes and BMW, valued to be worth 15m baht (£345,800) collectively, as well as luxury watches and other branded goods. Authorities also confirmed that they have frozen titles to a house and land worth 7m baht (£161,000) to facilitate further investigation.
The operation followed an investigation into Auto888vip.com which was found to be actively offering illegal online gambling services.
Investigators allege that the site was set up by Prayoonnikor two years ago. It had around 3,000 active user accounts each month and processed monthly cash withdrawals totalling approximately 20m baht (£460,500) over the past six months.
The raid is just the latest in a series of efforts to clamp down on Thailand’s illegal gambling market.
In February, five Thai nationals were among 13 arrested for allegedly operating an online gambling website. More recently, Thai police arrested 19 people involved in underground poker games following a raid at the Mind Sports Club.
Time for regulation?
Currently, Thai law only allows betting on horse racing and the Thai lottery.
However, the significant sums processed by these black market operations illustrate the appetite for online gaming amongst Thailand’s citizens.
Efforts were made to legalise casinos in Thailand through the Entertainment Complex Bill but the legislation was withdrawn following the suspension of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Shinawatra’s father, Thaksin Shinawatra, also previously Prime Minister of Thailand, has also in the past called for iGaming to be legalised, citing the economic boost it would bring to the country.
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