Thai cyber police dismantle illegal igaming ring led by ex-Muay Thai champion
Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau has shut down an unlicensed igaming network that generated more than THB100 million (US$3.1 million)1 THB = 0.0309 USD
2025-10-29Powered by CMG CurrenShift in online wagers over three years.
The site, g2g69bet, was allegedly operated by Weerapong, a former Muay Thai champion better known by his fight name ‘Puenkon Tor Surat’.
Investigators said the platform operated with clearly defined roles across site administration, fund management, and customer handling. The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau’s intelligence unit initiated the investigation after detecting unusual financial activity.
Weerapong acknowledged during questioning that he had operated the site for more than three years and initially started the network as a side activity before it eventually became his main source of income.
According to the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, the operation was codenamed Knock Out 100-Million Gambling Website.
Police conducted raids at nine locations in Saen Suk, Chonburi, and Lamphun, and succeeded in arresting eight suspects and taking key digital assets into custody, including computers, mobile phones, and ATM cards.
Those apprehended were responsible for running cash flow management, user deposits, and fund withdrawals.
The group faces charges of running an unauthorized online gambling business and money laundering, offenses under Thai law.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau also recently dismantled another illegal online gambling operation in Chiang Rai’s Mae Chan district, detaining a 24-year-old woman believed to be the website’s administrator.
Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.
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The Backstory
A widening crackdown comes into focus
Thai cyber police say they unraveled a structured online gambling network that moved more than THB 100 million in wagers over three years, allegedly led by a former Muay Thai champion. The raids, spread across nine locations, fit a broader campaign that has increasingly targeted digital gambling operations built to mimic legitimate businesses. The case, which investigators codenamed Knock Out 100-Million Gambling Website, highlights how operators segment duties across site administration, fund flows and customer handling, then lean on fast payments and messaging apps to scale quietly until unusual banking patterns surface.
Authorities describe a familiar architecture: front-end sites that promise easy access and fast cashouts, back-end teams that manage deposits and withdrawals through numerous accounts, and a tight cadence of promotion that converts casual visitors into repeat bettors. The techniques are not unique to Thailand. They mirror methods seen in neighboring markets, where police have been dismantling rings that use cross-border hosting, encrypted communications and affiliate marketing to recruit users and obscure ownership.
This backstory traces how Thai enforcement reached this point, how similar playbooks have appeared across Asia, and why the stakes include more than gambling violations. The cases show links to money laundering, the use of crypto rails to mask proceeds and aggressive targeting of young or first-time bettors. They also show police trying to keep pace with operations that blend entertainment with frictionless fintech.
Thailand tightens the net at home
Before this week’s raid, Thai cyber police had already signaled a sharper posture. In May, officers in Chiang Rai’s Mae Chan district dismantled an illegal online gambling operation they say was fronted by a site called boost4fatcash. Investigators alleged the platform automated deposits through domestic bank accounts and processed withdrawals directly, a template that simplifies onboarding and makes payout promises a centerpiece of marketing. Police detained a 24-year-old administrator, seized devices and said the site’s 9,000 users generated about THB 5 million per month.
The Chiang Rai case also sketched the labor market that sustains these networks. Investigators said the administrator admitted to a monthly salary of THB 15,000 and prior experience with a similar operation in Myanmar. That detail echoes a regional reality: operators recruit relatively low-paid staff to manage chats, handle payments and moderate communities, while the core profits concentrate higher up the chain. Thai officials framed the raid as part of a broader campaign aimed at networks with ties to cybercrime and money laundering, underscoring that gambling enforcement is also financial-crime enforcement.
Across the region, a shared playbook
Police in other markets are confronting the same mix of digital tools and corporate-style organization. In South Korea, authorities said they dismantled an illegal igaming ring that ran eight gambling sites from the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia. Investigators alleged the group took in KRW 27.1 billion in profits over five years, with more than KRW 530 billion wagered. The ring, police said, used Telegram for encrypted outreach, recruited teenagers to send promotional messages, and featured live sports streams to drive real-time betting. The sites deployed female dealers to attract male users and used burner phones to foil tracing.
The South Korean case reinforces two trends that matter for Thailand. First, operators segment operations across jurisdictions for hosting and staffing, betting on gaps among legal systems to slow enforcement. Second, they deploy the same growth tactics seen in consumer tech: frictionless signup, live content, and constant engagement. Those make quick work of traditional limits like physical venue checks or visible cash handling.
Crypto rails supercharge velocity
Vietnam’s recent cases show how cryptocurrency and tokenization can accelerate scale and complicate audits. A Ho Chi Minh City court jailed 43 people for running an online gambling and crypto operation that authorities said moved about VND 88,000 billion from early 2020 to late 2021. Prosecutors alleged the group built platforms tied to third-party live gaming providers and then converted Vietnamese dong into tokens like USDT and Ethereum. Users pushed funds through e-wallets to gamble, while profits were laundered into real estate and luxury cars in Vietnam and abroad. The verdict came alongside a separate money-laundering probe, signaling that investigators are following the proceeds, not just the platforms.
In a parallel operation, Vietnamese police charged 31 people in a cross-border crackdown supported by Lao authorities. Officials alleged the network handled functions that mirror a corporate finance department: tracking bettors’ weekly profit and loss, making payments to overseas providers, paying salaries and splitting profits among members. Lao police raided multiple sites, seized devices and transferred suspects to Vietnam. The mechanics align with what Thai police described domestically: compartmentalized roles, remote tooling and an emphasis on speed of funds. The difference in Vietnam is the explicit presence of crypto, which grays the line between gambling and decentralized finance in the eyes of first-time users.
Marketing machines draw new bettors in
The pipes that feed these networks are increasingly professionalized. In Japan, police brought the country’s first case against an online casino affiliate site, charging two men with facilitating JPY 70 billion in illegal wagers. Investigators alleged the pair ran a promotional site that promised “winning strategies,” struck a commission deal tied to total wagers and cultivated a Discord group to deepen engagement. The case underscores a point relevant to Thailand: even when operators reside offshore, local-facing marketing funnels can be targeted if they recruit domestic users. Affiliates and influencers are often the bridge between an offshore platform and a local audience, and authorities are moving upstream to cut that link.
The South Korean probe also flagged teenage promoters and encrypted outreach, a reminder that acquisition campaigns now blur into the social internet. Live streams, chat communities and pop-up promotions create a persistent presence that resurrects churned users and nudges casual observers into small-stakes trials. Those first transactions are the critical on-ramp, and they rely on easy deposits, instant withdrawals and the perception of legitimacy created by slick interfaces.
Why this matters now
Thailand’s latest raid slots into a pattern: coordinated enforcement, larger financial footprints and networks that behave like fast-moving startups. The country’s cases show that domestic operations can borrow tactics honed across Asia, from encrypted recruiting to automated payments. The regional examples suggest that without steady pressure, these businesses quickly scale beyond gambling infractions and into money laundering risk, consumer fraud and youth exposure.
For regulators, the priority is to disrupt the flywheel: payments, promotion and platform. Payment chokepoints—bank accounts, e-wallets, crypto off-ramps—offer leverage if authorities can link them to site activity. Marketing channels—affiliates, social groups, live streams—are the funnel that turns awareness into deposits and can be deterred through prosecutions that raise legal risk for promoters. Platform infrastructure—hosting, streaming and customer support—often sits offshore, requiring cross-border cooperation that Vietnam’s work with Laos and South Korea’s international angles already illustrate.
For operators, the trend line is unfavorable. Thai police have shown they can follow financial signals, run coordinated raids and charge not only site owners but staff who manage cash and client onboarding. As cases in Vietnam and Japan demonstrate, teams that rely on tokens or affiliate schemes do not evade scrutiny; they widen it. The stakes are not only legal. Each high-profile bust raises the reputational and financing risk for any adjacent technology that looks like a gambling gateway.
For consumers, the lesson is simpler. The industry’s selling points—fast deposits and immediate payouts—are precisely what draw regulatory attention and create vulnerabilities when sites vanish overnight. As enforcement intensifies, the likelihood of frozen funds, identity exposure and legal consequences rises. Thailand’s move this week signals that the window for operating in the gray is narrowing, and the region’s recent history suggests it will narrow further.
