Thailand blocks nearly 184,000 online gambling URLs in three-month cyber crackdown

Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society says it has shut down 183,977 gambling-related URLs since October, as part of a broader operation that blocked more than 220,000 illegal online items in just over three months.

Authorities have sharply escalated their campaign against illegal online gambling, with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) reporting that it blocked 220,486 illegal online items – including social media accounts, pages and website URLs – between 1 October 2025 and 11 January 2026. Of these, online gambling links accounted for 183,977 entries, by far the largest share.

The ministry said December 2025 was the most intensive month of enforcement, with 116,397 illegal URLs taken offline in that period alone. Gambling websites were followed at a distance by URLs promoting e-cigarettes (14,618), alcohol advertising (10,139), cannabis trade (2,943), prostitution (2,040), firearms (1,990) and a mixed category of other violations – including fraud and hate speech – totalling 4,779 URLs.

Deputy government spokespersons and MDES officials framed the figures as evidence of “tangible progress” under the government’s Quick Win agenda against cybercrime. The campaign targets key online channels used by criminal networks, with gambling platforms identified as a priority because of their scale and links to money laundering and cross-border fraud.

To accelerate takedowns, MDES is relying on its WebD enforcement platform, which uses artificial intelligence and robotic process automation (RPA) to detect illegal content, compile digital evidence, file paperless petitions to the courts and automatically transmit blocking orders to internet service providers. A separate URL Checker system continuously monitors previously blocked addresses to ensure they remain inaccessible.

The crackdown comes against a backdrop of soaring illegal gambling traffic. MDES data show that the number of URLs linked to gambling, e-cigarettes and alcohol promotions jumped from around 60,000 in 2024 to roughly 400,000 in 2025, with gambling sites alone increasing fourfold to more than 300,000 detected addresses.

While the government has previously explored casino and online gambling legalisation through the now-withdrawn Entertainment Complex Bill, most forms of gambling remain prohibited under the long-standing Gambling Act of 1935, leaving online betting firmly in the illegal category. The latest wave of blocks underlines that, for now, Thai policy is focused on aggressive disruption of unlicensed digital operators rather than regulated market opening.