June 30 - Thanks to the 2006 Soccer World Cup, online soccer betting in Thailand
has risen by 50 percent amongst Thai soccer fans, according to the TWA (Thai
Webmaster Association).
The vice president of the TWA, Poramet Minsiri confirmed to the media that
spread amongst the over 2300 online gambling websites on the Internet today, at
least Bt 480 million in online bets is made by Thais each year.
It is estimated that during any given World Cup match, as many as 7000 Thais
partake in online soccer betting via foreign online sports books ranging from Bt 5000 to Bt 10 million.
However, in Thailand 'online gambling websites' can only contain information or
comments about soccer and not offer actual gambling facilities.
Head of the Thailand's Cyber Football Gambling Suppression Team at the
Metropolitan Police Bureau, Colonel Suwat Changyodsuk said that it was difficult
to arrest online bookmakers because when threatened, the site webmasters simply
move from host to host.
