Pictures courtesy of Daily News

 

Police in Chon Buri have raided a commercial building in Sattahip district, seizing 49 electronic slot machines and detaining several Thai and Chinese nationals. Authorities believe the operation may be linked to a scam network attempting to establish an illegal base in Thailand.

 

At around 22:35 on 8 November 2025, officers from Sattahip Police Station led by Pol Col Khomsan Kamtunkaew, with support from Pol Lt Col Chanathat Nawakunrangsri, Pol Lt Col Kriangkrai Meesaeng, and Pol Lt Col Apichat Namchantho, raided a property in Village 2, Bang Saray Subdistrict, Sattahip District. The team acted on an intelligence tip that a group of Thai and Chinese individuals were storing and transporting gaming machines, from the building.

 

Upon arrival, police found several Chinese nationals directing the loading of gaming machines and other electronic equipment onto a truck, assisted by Thai workers hired to move the items. Officers immediately secured the area and confiscated the evidence, which included 49 slot machines, two signal control units and numerous electronic and internet distribution devices.

 

All Thai and Chinese individuals at the scene were taken into custody for questioning at Sattahip Police Station. Investigators suspect the group may have connections to an international scammer syndicate operating in the region. Preliminary findings suggest the suspects might have entered Thailand from a neighbouring country to set up a base for illegal online or cyber activities.

 

Police credited swift public reporting for preventing the suspected operation from progressing further. The confiscated machines and equipment have been handed over as evidence and investigators are now working to trace the origin of the devices and identify any wider criminal network involved.

 

Authorities have stressed that this discovery highlights growing concerns over foreign-linked cybercrime networks using Thailand as a logistics or operations hub. Further raids and arrests are expected as the investigation expands.

 

 

Key Takeaways

 

• Police seized 49 slot machines and detained Thai and Chinese suspects in Sattahip.

• The suspects were caught moving gaming machines from a commercial building.

• Investigators believe the group is linked to a wider scam network based abroad.

 

Related Stories

 

Police-bust-online-gambling-scam-network-in-Sisaket

 

Police-dismantle-gambling-network-with-฿12-billion-turnover

 

 

  Adapted  by  Asean  Now from Dailynews 2025-11-10

 

 

 

 

"Slot machine" sounds so innocent and historically referred to a simple vending machine - a device that could dispense a can of coke or a bar of chocolate.

 

Back in the day (and for a very good reason) we called gambling machines "one-armed-bandits", and then they were made 'armless.

 

Automation has a lot to answer for. 

I used to work in a sports & social club.  My job was looking after the gaming machines.  We decided to set the payouts to 90% on both of our £200 jackpot machines (minimum was 70%) and we told the membership this as part of our marketing.  In the one full financial year I was doing that job we netted (before machine rental) over £95k.  Means close to £1m was put through the machines.  Our bar and food sales went up a lot too as people came to our place in part to play the machines that were paying out a high percentage.

 

They are a good way of laundering money too, albeit a bit slow.

 

So I was told... 🤓

2 minutes ago, Watawattana said:

I used to work in a sports & social club.  My job was looking after the gaming machines.  We decided to set the payouts to 90% on both of our £200 jackpot machines (minimum was 70%) and we told the membership this as part of our marketing.  In the one full financial year I was doing that job we netted (before machine rental) over £95k.  Means close to £1m was put through the machines.  Our bar and food sales went up a lot too as people came to our place in part to play the machines that were paying out a high percentage.

 

They are a good way of laundering money too, albeit a bit slow.

 

So I was told... 🤓

Yes the betting shops in the UK guaranteed a 33% pay out, but I recall they involved the cops to stop drug dealers laundering money. 

They used to have a horse racing slot machine in a little  bar just down from the Malasia Hotel. The same street where some of "Good Morning Vietnam" was filmed in.

Bar was the same as it was in the Vietnam War era.

I was playing the machine one evening and, I kid you not, the horse I backed with long odds was actually winning, but then the jockey fell off. 🙂

 

 

 

Slight off topic, but I thought those crane grab machines were illegal too yet my local Big C have around 8 inside....

Went to an Easter Show in Australia and they had lots of those machines. 

In the machinary section they had a washer making machine that produced .etal washers that fitted into the crane grab machine.

So we kept getting all the washers and putting them in the grab machine, never won a thing.

100% rip off machines.

 

 

15 hours ago, brian69 said:

Slight off topic, but I thought those crane grab machines were illegal too yet my local Big C have around 8 inside....

Yeah they got closed down for a spell some years ago but seem to have re-emerged. If you talk of BIg-CX there are more than  8 total in various locations. Their damned automatic music was most irritating.