Myanmar committee to combat online gambling holds first meeting

Abi Bray

12 December 2025 at 12:40pm UTC-5

Source: Shutterstock

Email, LinkedIn, and more

Myanmar’s newly established committee to combat online gambling has held its first meeting at the Areindama Hall of the Myanmar Police Force Headquarters.

The Central Committee on Combating Telecom Fraud and Online Gambling was established on December 10 by the Office of the National Defence and Security Council to oversee and serve as a focal point for eradicating online fraud in Myanmar’s border areas, preventing its spread across the country, and eliminating online gambling.

Article continues below ad

Those in attendance included Central Committee Chairman and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lt-Gen Tun Tun Naung; First Vice-Chairman and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, U Than Swe; central committee members, and both the secretary and joint secretaries.

Myanmar plans to establish a National Anti-Scam Centre in the 2026-27 financial year.

The committee is expected to formulate national-level strategies, policies, and procedures to combat online scams. Additionally, they will work alongside the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Central Bank of Myanmar in its efforts to eradicate online gambling.

Article continues below ad

In its attempts to combat online fraud and gambling, Myanmar has so far committed to demolishing and closing all buildings in the border region to stop online gambling and fraud from reemerging, and prevent human trafficking.

The crackdown began earlier this year, with a large-scale operation in November, whereby 170 of 635 buildings identified as being used for online gambling were demolished.

Abi Bray brings strong researching skills to the forefront of all of her writing, whether it’s the newest slots, industry trends or the ever changing legislation across the U.S, Asia and Australia, she maintains a keen eye for detail and a passion for reporting.

View Abi Bray's bio and articles.

Locations:

Verticals:

Casino

Sectors:

Topics:

Dig Deeper

The Backstory

Escalation after years of digital drift

Myanmar’s creation of a centralized committee to target telecom fraud and online gambling marks a shift from piecemeal enforcement to a whole-of-government approach. The move follows months of stepped-up operations against border-based syndicates that used special economic zones and gray compounds to run scam and betting rings aimed at users across Southeast Asia. The remit is broad: coordinate policy, squeeze payment channels, and work with foreign governments to dismantle cross-border networks. It also signals the military council’s intent to institutionalize an anti-scam effort that outlasts one-off raids and public awareness campaigns.

The stakes are economic as well as political. Illegal online gambling and associated fraud erode the country’s financial integrity, pull youth into high-risk betting on mobile apps and drain household savings. The ecosystem thrives on lax enforcement, offshore operators, and cryptocurrency rails. The new national body is designed to align law enforcement, telecom regulators, and the central bank, while Myanmar plans a National Anti-Scam Centre in the 2026–27 fiscal year. If it works, the country could shrink an industry that has migrated from casinos and back rooms to phones and encrypted chats.

The strategic pivot follows the same playbook seen in other markets: hit the dens, close the loopholes, then harden the digital perimeter. Myanmar is late to the task, but its recent actions suggest a sustained campaign rather than another headline-grabbing sweep.

November raids set the tone

Authorities previewed this national strategy in late 2024 with rolling operations around Myawady and Shwe Kokko, hubs synonymous with online betting and scam centers that employ trafficked labor. In a series of actions announced in November, Myanmar intensified its crackdown against illegal online gambling, targeting 635 structures identified as gambling facilities and demolishing 170 to prevent reuse. The government reported arrests of hundreds of foreign nationals and the seizure of thousands of devices, underscoring the region-spanning nature of the syndicates.

Demolition is blunt, but it serves two purposes: disrupt operations and signal to landlords and local officials that the economics of enabling illegal networks have changed. The detentions also highlight two persistent constraints. First, enforcement is only as strong as cross-border cooperation on repatriations and criminal referrals. Second, displaced operators often reconstitute quickly in nearby districts or neighboring countries unless parallel actions close escape valves. That is why Myanmar is leaning into multilateral coordination with adjacent governments and tightening controls on logistics and payments.

Policing the web and the money

Offline raids will not dismantle an industry that increasingly lives on VPNs, crypto wallets, and social media funnels. Myanmar’s law enforcement has therefore paired physical operations with digital choke points. The police last month said they would intensify enforcement against illegal sites and social media pages that promote slots, live casinos, fish shooting, and local card games. Officials warned that promotions like signup bonuses and VIP perks mask math designed to drain players over time. The bigger move is upstream: working with the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Central Bank of Myanmar to shutter payment accounts tied to gambling and prosecute people who rent out accounts.

Payment interdiction is critical because it raises operating costs and deters casual consumers. But it is not foolproof. Operators rotate domains, route via stablecoins, and recruit brokers to cash out in kyat. That is why the new committee’s mandate emphasizes aligning policy across ministries. Coordinated takedowns that blend site blocks, asset freezes, and targeted arrests can create compounding friction for syndicates. Public education also matters in a market where low barriers to mobile betting have lured teens and young adults. The police have expanded state media campaigns to explain the legal and financial risks, an essential complement to enforcement.

Regional ripple effects and political blowback

Myanmar’s actions are reverberating beyond its borders because the betting and scam supply chain is regional. Bangkok has its own political headaches. In Thailand, allegations that online gambling proceeds were used to bribe police have spilled into parliament. Two MPs from Songkhla failed to appear before a House security panel after witnesses sketched out money trails and transfers to a police unit, prompting calls for referrals to the anti-graft agency and asset seizures. The case, detailed in coverage of Thai MPs linked to online gambling bribes, coincided with Thailand approving the extradition of alleged kingpin She Zhijiang to China, a reminder that enforcement cases seldom stop at one jurisdiction’s borders.

Australia is confronting the demand side. Lawmakers there have pushed to curtail the visibility of betting, arguing that a surge in advertising fuels problem gambling. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has resisted a blanket ad ban, but the political pressure remains after a parliamentary inquiry recommended a phased prohibition. As the government weighs its options, the country is poised to end 2025 without adopting the most sweeping reforms, according to reporting on MPs pushing for a gambling advertising ban. Policymakers are balancing consumer harm against broadcasting and sports revenue, a calculus that will shape how quickly ads recede from prime-time screens.

Global policy crosscurrents raise the stakes

Even tax policy far from Southeast Asia can reshape online gambling markets. In the United States, a new budget law narrowed gamblers’ ability to deduct losses, potentially forcing some professionals into negative tax positions. That sparked a countermeasure from Nevada Rep. Dina Titus, who introduced the Fair Bet Act to restore full loss deductions. The goal, Titus argues, is to keep players in regulated ecosystems rather than pushing them toward offshore sites. The gambit, outlined in coverage of the Fair Bet Act introduced in response to Trump’s budget bill, underscores how tax friction can shift play across borders and platforms.

For Myanmar’s new committee, these crosscurrents matter. Enforcement pressure in one country often pushes operators to pivot to another. Advertising clampdowns can slow new-user acquisition, while tax changes may nudge high-volume players to gray markets. A durable fix requires synchronized action: cutting off recruitment, closing payment on-ramps, prosecuting corrupt enablers, and coordinating repatriations and prosecutions with neighbors. The committee’s planned national strategies and a forthcoming anti-scam center are designed to knit those pieces together.

The next test is execution. Myanmar’s early results—demolished compounds, seized devices, and detentions—show willingness to act. Building an enduring deterrent will depend on tightening the digital net, aligning with regional partners, and maintaining public trust. If the committee can sustain pressure on both the physical and financial infrastructure of online betting, it could move an industry that long thrived on fragmentation into retreat.