The Royal Thai Police and the Bank of Thailand held a joint meeting on 9 July 2026 to set out proactive cooperation to cut the financial circuits of online gambling and gray capital networks, the police said in a statement published on 11 July 20261. The two bodies agreed to stop financial institutions, financial service providers and payment gateways from being used as tools for offenses1.
Police Lieutenant General Trirong Phiwphan, deputy director of the police Information Technology Crime Suppression Centre and a police spokesman, said online gambling remains a significant problem linked to financial crime, money laundering and gray capital networks1. He said that although offenders have begun using digital assets more, bank accounts, payment services and payment gateways remain the main channels for receiving, sending and circulating money for such networks1. He added that criminals currently use payment gateways as one route for transactions, to conceal and circulate money for gambling website networks1.
The cooperation covers three areas, according to the statement1:
| Area | Detail |
|---|---|
| Information exchange and proactive alerts | A mechanism for exchanging data between the police, the Bank of Thailand, financial institutions and payment service providers, to identify, track and handle accounts or financial channels linked to online gambling quickly1 |
| Support for investigations and financial tracing | Ways for the financial sector to support police investigations more effectively, to speed up tracing, expansion of cases and prosecution of key figures in the networks1 |
| Integration between agencies | Cooperation between the police, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, the Bank of Thailand, financial institutions, payment gateway providers and other financial service providers1 |
The police also said they are preparing to set up an Anti Online Gambling Center (AOGC) to prevent and suppress online gambling and to monitor irregular transactions, so that accounts can be frozen promptly1. The Bank of Thailand is cooperating by sending data on irregular transactions, and the police have sent samples of transactions suspected of using payment gateways to receive money circulated from gambling1.
"การพนันออนไลน์ยังคงเป็นปัญหาสำคัญที่เชื่อมโองกับอาชญากรรมทางการเงิน การฟอกเงิน และเครือข่ายทุนสีเทา"
The statement did not give a date for the AOGC to begin operating, and no start date has been reported1. It also did not say how many accounts or transactions are under review, or whether any prosecutions have followed from the samples sent1.
What it means for players
The measures described target the money side of online gambling: the bank accounts, payment services and payment gateways used to move funds, rather than the act of placing a bet1. For anyone gambling online in Thailand, the practical effect is that transactions routed through Thai bank accounts or Thai payment gateways may be monitored, and accounts identified as linked to gambling may be frozen more quickly once the AOGC is running1. The statement does not describe any new penalty for players, and it does not say whether individual bettors' accounts are within the scope of the monitoring1. The legal position for players in Thailand is set out in our guide to gambling in Thailand and to online casinos in Thailand; the regional picture is covered in Online Gambling in Asia: The Law for Players in 12 Jurisdictions. What happens to people caught gambling is set out in What Happens If You Are Caught Gambling in Thailand, and cases of players arrested across the region are collected in Have Players Been Arrested for Online Gambling in Asia?.
What happens next
The police said they are preparing to establish the Anti Online Gambling Center, with the Bank of Thailand supplying data on irregular transactions and the police having already sent samples of suspected gambling-related payment gateway transactions1. No date has been reported for the center to open, and no further meetings have been announced1.
