Thai Court Orders Closure of Gambling SItes

A Thai court has ordered the closure of 72 online gambling and gaming websites and tough penalties for operators and ISP's that don't comply.

The order was made on May 19 by the Thai Criminal Court and communicated to the Information and Communications Technology Ministry (ICT) who are now charged with the task of enforcing the directive.

Among the 72 sites included in the crackdown are casino and sportsbook 88suncity.com and sportbook/casino/live dealer site 368sb.com. Both sites are served out of the Philippines Cagayan SEC and must now either vlock access to Thai residents, or face fines and jail terms. ISP's failing to block these and the other 70 sites may face jail, fines and revokation of their ISP licenses as well.

It's an aggressive move by the Thai Criminal Court and one that many expect to be challenged by some operators as it is not supported by current legislation. The other issue for Thai regulators will be how to deal with the 3,000 or so other sites offering online gambling related content in the web.

Many Governments around the world have already discovered that a heavy hand wielded against operators within their jurisdiction only serves to push players to other online gambling options beyond the reach of local laws and law enforcement capabilities.

The move to shut down the listed sites comes amidst reports of problem gambling and rumors some sites are laying over 100 million baht worth of bets per night during peak gambling periods.