Gambling On Line Is It Illegal ?

[LKIBA]

is gambling illegal by thai law on the internet ie: playing poker for money with the site outside Thailand

Edited April 29, 2008 by LKIBA

[Wolfie]

Yep, afraid so

[Richard-BKK]

All forms of online gambling all is illegal. It doesn't matter if the website is out-site Thailand, as you are inside Thailand.

[jdinasia]

yes, it is illegal

[tigerbeer]

why do u need to go online when ... errr nevermind

[LKIBA]

yes, it is illegal

ok thanks and how do you know that for certain

[LKIBA]

why do u need to go online when ... errr nevermind

hehe i know been there worn the T-shirt

[burman]

It's illegal. All gambling in Thailand is except for the lottery.

But many people do it and don't get caught since it's hardly worth anyone's time to bother about.

[LKIBA]

All forms of online gambling all is illegal. It doesn't matter if the website is out-site Thailand, as you are inside Thailand.

ok thanks but how do you know for certain

[colino]

My neighbor (Thai)

Got busted last week for playing pontoon 5000 baht fine for her and the others had to hand their cash over

[slapout]

If I had a question about the legality of any action I was thinking about. Where do I go for advice?ask members of thai visa, ask local policeman directing traffic, ask policeman who issues tickets for traffic violations, ask at tambon police station, ask a lawyer, or ask the same person who recommended your first trip Nana Plaza and/ or Soi Cowboy.

[A_Traveller]

All forms of gambling are illegal here, even in principal a 'friendly wager' over a game of pool, no I'm not kidding. A number of wagering sites are specifically blocked by the authorities here, which might be taken as a a hint.

I know it's bizarre given the whole football activity here, but that is the legal position.

It should be noted that even some promotions by banks here have fallen foul of the strict interpretation of the law.

And finally :- I've just rummaged through to a report from 2002 which lists reports to the the Royal Thai Police Agency Internet Hotline, between April 2002 to November 2002 as shown here below.

Incidents ------------------------------- Cases --------%

Pornography Website (Thai Language) 1,419 38.98

Pornography Website (Foreign Language) 832 22.86

Child Pornography 63 1.73

Pornography Products Website (Thai Language) 443 12.17

Pornography Products Website (Foreign Language) 36 0.99

Intellectual Piracy Website 187 5.14

Other Illegal Material 175 4.81

Prostitution 89 2.45

Gambling (Thai Language) 96 2.64

Gambling (Foreign Language) 30 0.82

National Security 270 7.42

Total 3,640

Source: Royal Thai Police Agency

{Sorry no table editor here}

HTH

Regards

PS Looked quickly and much to my surprise the draft of the Internet Law doesn't specify gambling {note this is not the formal text}. As a test I called up Ladbrokes.com which both a} came up & b} in Thai! Now that wasn't the case a few months ago on this True connexion.

PPS I guess the crux of the matter is if you are at home playing Texas Hold'em then who's to know, providing you remember the rrule of remaining quiet about it.

Edited April 29, 2008 by A_Traveller

[Wolfie]

All forms of online gambling all is illegal. It doesn't matter if the website is out-site Thailand, as you are inside Thailand.

ok thanks but how do you know for certain

Because gambling is illegal in Thailand, and its a well known *fact*

Of course, the only crime is getting caught

[A_Traveller]

Hm... we are having this discussion in general as well, and from same OP.

Regards

Edited April 29, 2008 by A_Traveller

[sweetchariot]

The fact that the ISP's are supposed to be blocking access to such sites is a good indicator that it is illegal, although most don't seem to bother these days. Some sites will be blocked by some ISP's some of the time. I used to have 2 lines (CAT and MaxNet), one blocked PartyPoker, the other blocked Betfair, but neither blocked both.

It's the same with porn sites (also illegal), and even Youtube last year where there were some derogatory videos about the King (also illegal - Lese Majeste), but taken much more seriously than gambling or porn as every ISP blocked Youtube for a few months.

[LivinLOS]

All forms of online gambling all is illegal. It doesn't matter if the website is out-site Thailand, as you are inside Thailand.

ok thanks but how do you know for certain

Why do people always get this attitude.

Let me phrase it this way.. If child pornography was illegal in your home country.. Would it be OK to say hey I am looking at it on a server in another country ??

Gambling in Thailand is illegal. doesnt matter if your online.. If your in Thailand and your gambling its a crime.

The chances of getting caught of course are slim.

Why do you think the Thai government blocks gambling sites ??

[stattointhailand]

It's pretty safe to say, IF YOU ENJOY IT .......... IT WILL BE ILLEGAL . You can bet your last dollar on it.. (or not, as it happens

[Tywais]

Hm... we are having this discussion in general as well, and from same OP.

Topics merged.

[Neeranam]

It is legal to play poker for play money using the big online sites like Pokerstars or FullTilt? Also, you could have money in your account that you put in abroad.

[dave111223]

I've never understood how they justify the lottery if gambling is illegal?

In US the gambling laws are pretty weird too through right? Gambling on horses OK, gambling on football, not allowed?

[Strap]

There is another down side to online gambling from Thailand also.

Some of the Big online casinos/sports books will block your account during an internal audit when they see you logged in from a Thai ISP .

I don't mean a person but there computer system will automatically block some accounts because True/Asia info net IP addresses have been flagged.

I had a good standing account for about 2 years with 1 well known site and after being in Thailand for 2 months my account got closed..they didnt even want to tell me why but eventually told me it was because i was in Thailand and Gambling online from there is illegal.

They said I could regain my account when I returned home... So be careful.

[Strap]

I've never understood how they justify the lottery if gambling is illegal?

In US the gambling laws are pretty weird too through right? Gambling on horses OK, gambling on football, not allowed?

In Las Vegas you can bet on almost anything, football,Racing,Hockey, Even Dancing with the stars ( REALLY ) .But most states in the usa don't allow gambling and some do.

In florida you can take a 3 hours nightly cruise to Gamble , it has to park 2 miles off the coast to be legal.

[ClaytonSeymour]

Slightly off topic, but whilst I'm not a horse racing fan, I've often wondered what the situation is regarding gambling in the Royal Bangkok Sports Club - anyone care to elaborate?

[mrtoad]

Slightly off topic, but whilst I'm not a horse racing fan, I've often wondered what the situation is regarding gambling in the Royal Bangkok Sports Club - anyone care to elaborate?

You can gamble at RBSC as far as I'm aware.

Edited April 29, 2008 by mrtoad

[onethailand]

Gambling in Thailand is illegal, except for government-sponsored lotteries and horse racing.

That said, there are no Thai laws governing online gambling - and it is debatable as to whether the gambling is actually taking place in Thailand or overseas at the location of the server.

If you are caught gambling online in Thailand, you could be subject to prosecution as the law is not specific.

Blocked sites are not any indication of the law - the Police made "requests" to block some sites and not all ISPs block the same sites. Internet Thailand does not block at all - yet it was originally formed by a government agency and the CEO is considered one of the founding fathers of the Internet in Thailand.

Poker is not clearly defined as a gambling game - and as such is also open to interpretation. Sportsbetting and casino games, however, are definitely gambling.

The presence of playing cards is often considered enough evidence to indicate gambling, even though you could be playing solitaire or bridge - yet the government holds the monopoly on the manufacture of playing cards in Thailand.

In short - if you gamble, don't get caught. Make no waves, keep your games private, and you'll usually be ok.

One more thing to add - online gambling is less likely to be a problem because the police can't get their hands on the money.

Edited April 29, 2008 by onethailand

[ade100]

Here’s the Logic:

A law is only a law, if it is enforceable

Laws are only enforced if it is in someone’s interest to enforce them

Thais are most interested in making money and saving face

THEREFORE in Thailand nothing is illegal unless someone can make money out of you or you are causing someone to lose face

THEREFORE gambling is legal. Getting caught gambling is illegal.

Does that make sense?

[balo]

Its no problem to play poker online when you're in Thailand.

As long as it takes place on a foreign site and that money are transferred between accounts outside of Thailand .

No Thai law can stop you from doing that.

I always play online poker when I visit Thailand, and Im a winning player most of the time

I have also opened a Neteller account so I can transfer my winnings to a prepaid Neteller credit card , it works in most ATMs everywhere.

[LivinLOS]

Its no problem to play poker online when you're in Thailand.

As long as it takes place on a foreign site and that money are transferred between accounts outside of Thailand .

No Thai law can stop you from doing that.

I always play online poker when I visit Thailand, and Im a winning player most of the time

I have also opened a Neteller account so I can transfer my winnings to a prepaid Neteller credit card , it works in most ATMs everywhere.

Erm.. <deleted>..

The difference between getting away with something and it being legal are obviously not clear to you.

[jstumbo]

Its no problem to play poker online when you're in Thailand.

As long as it takes place on a foreign site and that money are transferred between accounts outside of Thailand .

No Thai law can stop you from doing that.

I always play online poker when I visit Thailand, and Im a winning player most of the time

I have also opened a Neteller account so I can transfer my winnings to a prepaid Neteller credit card , it works in most ATMs everywhere.

So if you access your child pornography from a foreign site, use a foreign bank account to pay for your access to the child pornography site, and access that site while you are in Thailand then no Thai law can stop you from doing that?

Edited April 29, 2008 by jstumbo

[balo]

You cant compare downloading illegal pictures or even music stored locally on your computer with someone playing in a poker tournament that really takes place in Europe. I dont think that the laws in Thailand can prevent you from doing that .

If they want to stop it they have to close down the internet....