Over 2,800 websites shut down in crackdown on online gambling
More than 2,800 online gambling websites have been shut down in the past 12 months under a crackdown campaign of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society in a bid to prevent the negative impact of online gambling on the youth and the general public.
Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Wednesday that the ministry, together with its partners including the Royal Thai Police, had launched the campaign in September 2020.
Under the campaign, the ministry will gather evidence and submit to the court to issue a shutdown order on the websites, as well as provide information on the operators so that the police can file relevant charges.
In the past 12 months (September 2021-August 2022), officials have shut down a total of 2,819 URLs suspected of operating online gambling services. This tally is more than double the 1,259 websites shut down from September 2020 to August 2021.
Chaiwut urged people who have information about online gambling websites to alert the ministry via hotline 1212 or send a message to facebook @DESMonitor.
“Online gambling poses a serious threat to the youth and the general public as it could lead to problems, such as gambling addition, illegal loans, and scamming for personal and financial information via the internet or call centres,” said Chaiwut.
“The ministry will continue to find these websites and shut them down to protect the people, as well as ensure prosecution of the operators to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
