The son of a former Senator in Thailand has been jailed for over 132 years for his role in an illegal gambling and money laundering network.
Narote Piriyarangsan, the son of former Senator Sangsit Piriyarangsan, was one of eight charged with both organising and facilitating online gambling by Thailand’s Criminal Court.
However, he failed to appear in court after being granted temporary release in October 2025, according to local outlet The Nation.
The ruling, which was read in absentia, sentenced Piriyarangsan to 132 years and six months in prison. However, this is capped at 20 years under Thai law.
Wide-ranging network
According to court documents, Piriyarangsan and his co-defendants operated an illegal gambling network between December 2023 and May 2024.
During this time, bank transfers were made ranging from 1.7m baht (£38,450) to 54.7m baht (£1.24m). The group are also said to have laundered the proceeds of the network through the purchase of land, jewellery and luxury cars.
Piriyarangsan is the only defendant to have been named, with the rest listed only by number. Defendants one to five, plus defendant number seven, were found guilty of helping to advertise or invite others to take part in illegal gambling.
Defendants one, four and Piriyarangsan were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment each for their role in organising illegal gambling, while defendants two, three, five and seven were each fined 3,000 baht (£67.85).
On the money laundering count, the court sentenced defendant one to a total of 15 years and 32 months, while Piriyarangsan received a cumulative sentence of 132 years and six months.
The court also fined corporate defendants and other parties – including 1.01m baht (£22,844) for defendant two, 2.01m baht (£45,462) for defendant three, 13.7m baht (£309,868) for defendant five and 3.01m baht (£68,080) for defendant seven.
A warrant has now been issued for the arrest of Piriyarangsan, whose father was involved in Thailand’s failed casino bill.
An ongoing issue
Almost all forms of gambling remain illegal in Thailand after the aforementioned casino bill was withdrawn last year following the ousting of Paetongtarn Shinawatra from leadership in August 2025.
Since then, the country has turned its attention to battling the black market, which is believed to be worth approximately 1.1trn (£24.8bn) baht annually.
In October last year, raids in nine locations led to the arrest of the former Muay Thai Champion Weerapong (Puenkon Tor Surat) for his role in an illicit gambling network.
Eight suspects were arrested in total under suspicion of operating a site called ‘g2g69bet’, which generated a turnover of 100m baht over a three-year period.
