Gambling Law In Thailand
Brick and Mortar Gambling Law in Thailand
Whereas Singapore and The Philippines have lax gambling laws, Thailand has some of the strictest gambling laws in Southeast Asia. Betting on horse racing and the government-sponsored lottery are the only two forms of legal gambling in the country. However, despite the rules, illegal casinos are widespread and very popular in Thailand.
Thailand is cracking down on online gambling websites. Internet providers will have 15 days to block 1,202 gambling websites before charges are pressed for violating Thailand’s Computer Crime Act. Although gambling is technically illegal in Thailand, underground and online gambling thrives in pockets of the country. Learn what are the weirdest gambling laws in the world that you should know, especially if travelling to these countries and states.
Horse racing in Bangkok and Thai Lottery are the only forms of gambling legal under Thailand Law. Online betting is however popular in Thailand because our police do not focus on websites that are licensed and legal in other countries. In Chatuchak Market in BKK and Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai you’ll find jerseys with BWIN logos for sale. On popular Thai websites Bodog88 casino ads are found. Ladbrokes has sponsored many Asian football tours here. The presence of online gambling websites is easy to see.
Websites for Betting Online
There are multiple types of websites Thai residents can use for sports betting, casino and online poker. The two most ideal are Asian bookies and UK bookmakers, though betting with land based casinos is also possible. In this article I explain the benefits, differences and how to use each. For the benefit of readers not aware how online betting works, I first quickly explain post up.
Understanding Post Up
Both Asian bookies and UK Bookmakers operate on post up. This means you can only bet how much is in your account. Let’s say you deposit 3,000 THB. You then make a ฿500 bet. This will be taken from your account making your balance 2500 THB. If your bet loses nothing happens. If it wins the ฿500 stake is returned to your balance and the winnings are added too. At anytime you can cash out all or part of your account balance. With Asian bookies these cash outs are paid direct to your Thai bank account.
Using Asian Bookies in Thailand
Asian bookies are the easiest to use. www.bodog88.com is legal and licensed in the Philippines but markets to Thailand. They offer casino, sports betting, and poker from the same website. If you have a bank account with Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) or Krung Thai Bank making post up deposits is easy. You can use online banking right at their website, or you can make deposits at the ATM or a transfer at the bank branch.
The benefits to using Asian bookies are many. Both Thai language and English language are supported. Also it is easy to deposit with direct bank transfer in Thai Baht (THB), and therefore no currency exchange fees are involved. Most bookies including Bodog88 offer payouts to Thai banks free of charge. Here you will find live dealer casino games such as baccarat, roulette and blackjack. There are also online slot machines and other casino games such as dice (craps). The benefits for sports betting are many too.
Gambling Law In Thailand Currency
Football is the main sport of Asian sites. All the major leagues such as English Premier League (EPL), Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A and German Bundesliga are covered. You’ll also find betting odds on leagues from all around the world including Thai Premier League, but also other European and Asian leagues too. Besides just football they offer betting on tennis, volleyball, Formula 1, and many other sports.
Though not all Asian bookies offer online poker, Bodog88 does. They have Texas Hold’em cash games, sit and go tournaments and scheduled multi-table tournaments. Because many of their players are from South East Asia where poker is not as big as other places, the games here are very soft. On average it is much easier to win money with Bodog Poker than with big sites such as PokerStars, Party and Bet365.
Using UK Bookmakers in Thailand
Using UK bookmakers from Thailand is not as easy as using Asian bookies. However it is well worth the hassle in getting set up. The reason why is gambling has been legal in the UK since the 1960s. Only the most reputable companies are licensed here. Take for example www.bet365.com. They are one of the largest companies in the UK and even own the English Premier Franchise Stoke City FC. You can know for certain that their casino games are fair because the UK Gambling Commission is very strict and audits these games.
There are many benefits to Bet365 but first let me tell you a trick. When you an open account for free at www.bet365.com your account will be in Thailand Baht (฿) (THB). Log-in and contact their live chat and ask the operator to switch your account to United States Dollar (USD). This will make you eligible for a 100% up to $200 sports betting bonus. You deposit $200 USD (about 6000 THB) and you start with $400 (about 12000 THB).
The only small catch is all your bets must total 3-times your deposit plus bonus amount before you cash out. To deposit you’ll need to use EntroPay or NETELLER so if not already funded there will be fees. This is why I said get ฿5600 free – the actual amount is probably a bit more.
How to Use EntroPay
www.entropay.com is a service that offers internet based prepaid VISA debit cards. The reason this is needed is because Thai debit cards do not work for deposits at online gambling sites, but do work at EntroPay. Register an account at their website and they will give you an online VISA card number. You then load the card for a 4.9% fee using your Thai debit card. I do this all the time with my Be1st Visa Debit Card from Bangkok Bank.
A small tip is your card will get declined by EntroPay if you fail to complete the Verified by Visa process. For this service you must be registered. This is fairly easy to do – just follow the instructions online if you are not already registered. Or you can Google search your bank name with the words Verified by Visa to find out how to enroll. If you’re bank is Bangkok Bank you can register here.
Once you have added money to your EntroPay account visit the Bet365 cashier. When asked how you want to deposit, select EntroPay and enter you card details and the amount and hit submit. Instantly your Bet365 account will be funded. You can then play casino, poker or bet sports from their website.
Important note: at some point you will likely get an email saying your EntroPay account has been restricted or suspended pending a routine review. They will ask you to send them a copy of your ID, utility bill and funding source and to tell the name of the merchant you intend to spend with. Sending this information is fine. EntroPay is licensed by a UK government body called the FSA and is highly reputable. This is only a security check and nothing to worry about. It is fine to tell them the name of a gambling site as the merchant because gambling is very legal in the UK.
How to Use NETELLER
www.neteller.com is more difficult to set up from Thailand. This is an e-wallet that works just like an online bank account. You can use it to cash money out of one gambling site and then deposit to another. One nice benefit is they offer an ATM card where you can withdrawal the money stored in your NETELLER account at a Thai ATM machine. The one downside is to fund your account you initially will need to either a) find a transfer from someone with a NETELLER account (such as trading them PayPal) or make a wire transfer at the bank. The latter option is a bit expensive, and also farang without work permits will probably not be allowed to make a bank transfer as it involves remitting funds out of the country. For Thais this is a good account to set up.
Bet365 Benefits
Again depositing a Bet365 is a bit more hassle than Asian bookies, but the benefits are many. As I already mentioned we know the games are fair because they are licensed in the UK. The other factor is they have FAR more casino games than any of their competitors. They also have more player volume in their poker room than any of the Asian bookies. The massive advantage is sports. Anyone with a funded account can watch live steams of sports matches right from the Bet365 website. This is a huge plus as True Vision, Home Cable and others only have limited sports coverage.
Also at Bet365 not only can you watch games live online, but you can also bet on them live. They are a market leader for live in-play betting. You can bet while the match is running on who will, the over under and also markets such as who will score the next goal, or even a race to a certain number of corners. What is mentioned here is only a small overview. This is a website that if you take the effort to use you will likely be glad that you did.
Using Land Based Casinos
There are many land based casino in countries that border Thailand that offer online betting. Crown Casino in Poipet, Cambodia is the most famous for sports betting. Savan Vegas Hotel & Casino Savannakhet, Laos is the nicest casino in the region. They offer an online casino too. These are only a couple examples. Although these are probably fine to use, understand there is no guarantee the online version of their games are fair. They are not heavily regulated the same as Bet365 is in the UK.
It is the advice of OnlineBetting.com to stick to using UK gambling sites when possible. In times the banking options are easier using casinos in Philippines, Isle of Man, and Gibraltar are good options too. These are all locations with well financed gambling commissions which greatly increases the chances the games are fair. Still in our opinion www.bet365.com is the safest and best gambling site for English speakers living in Thailand.
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php.iniFIGHTING the TIDE of WORLD CUP GAMBLING in THAILAND 2 July 2010 FIGHTING the TIDE of WORLD CUP GAMBLING in THAILAND Is it worth the effort? Except for the government-sponsored public lottery and two horse-racing tracks in Bangkok, gambling is illegal in Thailand – punishable by a jail term of up to one year and a fine of 1,000 baht. However, the practice remains widespread. Everyone’s doing it … bankers, academics, foreigners, students, as well as groups of people openly on the street and over the Internet. Some estimates place at least 70 percent of Thai adults as regular gamblers. The industry annually generates hundreds of billions of baht in exchanged revenue within the country’s borders. Interest in ‘having a flutter’ on World Cup football matches first spawned in 1998 and now represents a significant portion of this hidden economy. The Thai Chamber of Commerce estimates that gambling transactions in the country will involve as much as 37 billion baht during the FIFA World Cup 2010 tournament being held in South Africa from June 11 to July 11. Some argue that gambling is unstoppable; efforts to resist amount to a waste and distraction of government resources. Legal casinos are found just across Thailand’s border in Cambodia, Burma, and some points in Laos. Both foreign and Thai interest-groups are pressuring the current government. If gambling was legalized, the government could retain profits and taxes rather than underground bookies. (Note that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and other ex-government officials were themselves accused of skimming from the National Lottery after the 2006 military coup). Those opposing legalization argue that too many negative aspects are directly associated with gambling, such as addiction leading to often unrecoverable personal losses; especially for those in lower-income brackets. Furthermore, gambling goes directly against the precepts of Buddhism. CRACKDOWNS ONLINE This tournament season the MICT is targeting online gambling transactions, having blocked 246 betting-websites on local and international servers just prior to the start of the matches. TOT, a state agency under the Ministry, is red-flagging telephone numbers for unusually heavy-use during the tournament in attempt to monitor and determine whether these numbers are involved in illicit gambling. Bangkok Metropolitan Police Thai police have intensified a clampdown on football betting nationwide. Thailand’s Metropolitan Police Bureau announced a significant number of arrests in the first few days of the tournament. During the opening match between South Africa and Mexico, Bangkok police arrested 28 gamblers; and in the following days more than 250 people citywide – including bookmakers and debt collectors – seizing 83,00 baht in cash and 430,000 baht worth of betting slips. BANKS and MONKS Specifically prompted by the World Cup season, Kasikorn and Krung Thai banks banned employees from illegal betting, both during work and off-hours. Employees discovered gambling face criminal charges and immediate dismissal. Supervisors are instructed to closely monitor personnel. Furthermore, the National Buddhist Office in Bangkok just amended the punishment delivered to monks involved in gambling. According to Dharma rule the previous punishment was only a warning. However, in a recent ‘Great Samana Consideration’ meeting, elders agreed to terminate the monk-status of those caught gambling. All temples have been ordered to strictly enforce the new rule. SAVING TEENAGERS from THEMSELVES World Cup gambling among youths in Thailand is increasing. Schools and universities have been urged to monitor students, who may quickly run into financial trouble beginning only with bets as little as 20-50 baht at a time, during the tournament. According to police, 25 percent more young people betted on the World Cup in 2006 compared to 2002. One female university student reportedly lost 40,000 baht and couldn’t go to class, fearing collectors who pressured her to enter the sex trade to pay off her debt. Related Articles: Thailand Anti-Money Laundering Act
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