Gambling and Religion in Asia

Why religion shapes gambling rules across Asia

If you travel across Asia, you will notice quickly that gambling rules change dramatically from one country to the next. Macau has dozens of casinos, Thailand has none, Malaysia has exactly one, and the Philippines has hundreds of licensed venues. A lot of that difference comes down to religion, and to how each state chooses to enforce or soften religious teachings.

Islam is the clearest case. Where a country has a Muslim majority or a Muslim legal establishment, gambling is treated as haram, forbidden, and the state usually writes that prohibition into law. Malaysia is the best example, with a legal system that runs on two tracks, one for Muslims and one for everyone else. Buddhist-majority countries take a different route: Buddhism has no single scripture that bans gambling outright, but it treats it as a distraction and a source of harm, and governments in Thailand have long used that framing to justify strict bans. Confucian traditions in China and Vietnam emphasize self-control and social order, and both states heavily restrict gambling rather than prohibiting it in all forms: China runs state lotteries while its authorities explicitly ban everything from mahjong for money to WeChat red packet betting⁸, and Vietnam permits licensed casinos for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese holding a valid foreign passport⁶.

Hinduism is more ambivalent. Games of chance appear throughout Hindu texts and mythology, and gambling with dice is part of the Diwali festival tradition in many communities, yet games of skill are treated differently from games of chance. That distinction still matters in India today: the Supreme Court defined gambling in 1996 as betting and wagering on games of chance only, excluding games of skill whether played for money or not⁹. Christian-majority countries in Asia, above all the Philippines, tend to have the most relaxed rules, with the state running casinos and betting rather than prohibiting them.

The broad picture at a glance:

You can read more about the broader attitudes behind these restrictions in why many Asian countries restrict gambling, and about the historical bans in historic gambling bans in Asia.

Islamic law in Malaysia: a dual court system

Malaysia runs a dual system of law: Syariah Courts governed by Islamic law for Muslims, and secular courts for everyone else⁷. This split matters enormously for gambling, because the two systems treat it differently and apply to different people.

For Muslims, the religious position is unambiguous. The Federal Territory Mufti's office describes gambling, judi, as something forbidden and a major sin in Islam¹⁰. Sharia law forbids gambling for Muslims outright⁷. A Muslim who gambles in Malaysia answers to the Syariah Courts, not the ordinary criminal courts.

Non-Muslims, including the large Chinese and Indian communities, foreign residents and visitors, fall under the secular system. There, the key law is the Betting Act of 1953, an old colonial-era statute that criminalizes running a betting operation within the country and participating in illegal gambling¹¹. The law was written long before the internet and does not explicitly address online gambling, which is why online betting sits in an odd position: banned in practice, but not spelled out for the online age¹¹.

The result is a country where the same act, placing a bet, can be a religious offense for one citizen and a secular offense for another, and where the licensed gambling that does exist is effectively reserved for the non-Muslim population and for tourists.

Muslim players in Malaysia: what is restricted and what is not

The single licensed casino in Malaysia is at Genting Highlands, Resorts World Genting, and it is open to non-Muslim Malaysians and international visitors⁶. Malaysian Muslims are not. The operator's own terms and conditions are explicit: casino membership is available to those aged 21 and over and does not apply to Malaysian Muslims¹. So a Muslim Malaysian cannot join the casino's membership program, and in practice the casino floor is a non-Muslim and tourist space.

Away from the casino, the licensed gambling that exists in Malaysia is limited and old:

• Licensed lotteries, sweepstakes and number forecast games
• Gaming machine operators
• Horse racing at three turf clubs, in Penang, Perak and Selangor¹²

The Ministry of Finance confirmed in August 2026 that no new gambling licenses have been issued under the current government, and that the licenses and permits still in force are based on existing approvals dating from the 1990s¹³. In other words, the licensed sector is a legacy system, not a growing one.

For Muslim players, the practical line is this: Sharia forbids gambling as a vice that can lead to debt and social harm¹⁴, and the Syariah Courts enforce that prohibition. For non-Muslims, the restrictions come from the secular law instead, and licensed play at Genting, the lottery operators and the turf clubs is available.

Syariah-compliant platforms and Malaysia's licensed operators

In November 2025, Malaysia's government said it is working to provide entertainment and sports platforms aligned with Islamic principles, citing programs with figures such as Sonny Bill Williams and Khabib Nurmagomedov. The idea is to give Muslim Malaysians halal alternatives to conventional sports betting and gaming products, rather than simply banning everything and leaving the field to offshore operators.

On the payments side, Malaysian banks have been instructed to block transactions to known gambling-related entities, which has pushed players and operators toward e-wallets and cryptocurrency¹⁴. Authorities have also blocked more than 500 websites offering online gambling services to Malaysian players in recent years¹⁵. No online gambling operators have been granted licenses under the current framework; only physical gambling operators hold licenses¹².

For players, the practical picture is mixed. Online betting and casinos are illegal in Malaysia under the old 1953 ban¹⁵, but individual bettors are rarely, if ever, prosecuted for placing bets on international sites, and the risk of prosecution is very low¹¹. There are no records of players being prosecuted for gambling online¹⁵. The bigger risk is financial: if an offshore site withholds winnings, freezes an account or acts fraudulently, there is no legal recourse in Malaysia¹⁴. Enforcement is aimed at operators, not at the person placing a small bet.

Buddhist-majority Thailand: a strict ban with a gray zone

Thailand is around 90 percent Buddhist, and its gambling laws are among the strictest in the region. Casinos are illegal and have been completely banned in the country for many years, a position that reflects a conservative reading of Buddhist concerns about greed and harm³. The Gambling Act B.E. 2478 of 1935 permits gambling in games only when those games are named and their conditions specified in a Ministerial Regulation¹⁶, which is how the state keeps the list of legal betting short.

What is allowed and what is not:

Horse racing has deep roots in Thailand; the first formal race meeting was held by the Royal Sport Club in January 1903, and the sport continues at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and other tracks. The legal casino gambling age, for when casinos eventually open, is set at 18¹⁷.

The gray zone is real. Gambling in Thailand is described as being in a gray zone, with the country's gaming landscape evolving¹⁷. Games like Pok Deng, a Thai card game similar to a two-card baccarat, are found in underground settings because gambling is largely illegal with only narrow exceptions¹⁸.

The biggest recent change is poker. In August 2025, tournament poker became officially legal after the acting prime minister overturned a long-standing ban⁴. A full legal framework governing the new law has yet to be implemented⁴. Outside licensed tournaments, any poker game is still viewed as gambling in Thailand rather than as a mind sport¹⁹, even though Texas Hold'em and other poker variants are not specifically illegal as games; the restrictions around them make playing for money illegal in practice¹⁹.

The Philippines: a largely Christian country with relaxed rules

The Philippines is the counterpoint to Thailand and Malaysia. A largely Roman Catholic country, it has never written a religious prohibition on gambling into its law. Instead, the state itself runs the industry through PAGCOR, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, which was established to operate clubs and casinos, sports gaming pools for basketball, football and other sports, and other games of chance allowed by law²¹.

Both domestic citizens and international visitors may play, with relatively relaxed conditions⁶. The minimum age is 21: only individuals 21 and above may enter and play in casinos and take part in other PAGCOR-regulated gambling activities²². Students of any school, college or university, government officials and employees connected with the operation of the government, and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines including the police are prohibited from entering, staying or playing, and banning orders apply nationwide²². Beyond land-based casinos, there are licensed gaming sites around the country offering poker games⁵.

Online, the rules split in an unusual way. PAGCOR's licensed online casino sites serve offshore players only: the player must be located outside the Philippines and not be a Filipino citizen²⁴. Filipino residents cannot join those local sites, but they are free to place bets at international online casinos that accept players from the Philippines²⁵. Players are not fined for joining offshore operators²⁵. Betting on illegal gambling activities, however, is a criminal act for bettors, as PAGCOR itself warns²⁶. Transactions with digital currencies are completely legal in the Philippines, and hundreds of offshore casinos accept Filipino players with Bitcoin²⁵.

The poker scene is a good illustration of how open the market is. Manila hosts major international tournament series, such as the Asian Poker Tour Manila Classic, where the minimum age requirement to participate is 21²³. You can read more in gambling in the Philippines.

Where religious rules and state law diverge

Religion and state law do not always point the same way, and Asia is full of examples where they pull apart.

China is the clearest case of the state going further than any religious teaching requires. Gambling is prohibited by Chinese laws and regulations⁷, and a 2023 enforcement notice from Liaoning province spells out that all forms are banned, including mahjong, poker, dominoes, dice, the underground Mark Six lottery, electronic gaming machines, computer networks and WeChat red packets⁸. Chinese citizens are also warned that gambling abroad, online gambling, and providing funds or technical support for gambling all violate the Criminal Law and the Public Security Administration Punishment Law²⁷. There is no religious basis for this; it is a secular, social-order policy, and it is stricter than anything Confucian tradition alone would demand.

Singapore shows the opposite pattern: a secular law with room for private behavior. Under the Gambling Control Act 2022, social gambling is excluded from the definition of unlawful gambling²⁸. Religion shapes attitudes, notably the religious prohibition on gambling among the Malay Muslim community²⁹, but the law itself is secular and harm-focused.

South Korea, meanwhile, has a Christian and Buddhist mix in its population and a Confucian administrative tradition, yet its casinos are largely foreigners-only. Casino floors at hotels such as the Hyatt Regency in Seoul and the Jeju KAL Hotel are reserved for foreign visitors³⁰, while Korean citizens are limited to Kangwon Land. The religious framing is minimal; the policy is about keeping gambling away from the domestic population while earning tourism revenue.

The pattern to notice is this: religious teaching often explains why gambling is frowned on, but the actual rules are written by governments, and governments follow their own priorities, whether that is social order in China, tourism revenue in Korea and the Philippines, or religious compliance in Malaysia.

What this means for expats and visitors

For expats and visitors, the practical rule is simple: your own religion is irrelevant, but the religion of the country you are in may decide what you can do.

• Malaysia: non-Muslims and visitors can gamble at Resorts World Genting, buy number forecast tickets and bet at the turf clubs. Muslims, including Muslim foreigners resident in Malaysia, are expected to observe the Sharia prohibition, and the casino's own membership terms exclude Malaysian Muslims¹. If you bet online, remember that the law bans it but prosecutions of individual players are essentially unheard of¹⁵; the real risk is losing money to an offshore site with no way to get it back¹⁴.
• Thailand: visitors will find no casinos at all, but can bet legally on horse racing and boxing, and can now play in licensed poker tournaments following the August 2025 change³. Underground games exist, including Pok Deng games in unlicensed settings¹⁸, but as a visitor you have no protection there.
• Philippines: visitors and residents alike can play at PAGCOR-licensed casinos and poker rooms from age 21²². Foreigners can also play at PAGCOR's licensed online sites, since those serve offshore players²⁴; Filipino residents cannot, though they are not penalized for using international sites²⁵.
• Singapore: expats should know about the self-exclusion and visit limit tools: individuals may apply to exclude themselves from the casinos at Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands, from jackpot machine rooms at private clubs, and from Singapore Pools online betting³².

For country-by-country detail, see gambling in Malaysia, gambling in Thailand, gambling in the Philippines and gambling in Singapore.