Can You Bet Online In Thailand
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- Can You Bet Online In Thailand Now
- Can You Bet Online In Thailand Online
- Can You Gamble Online In Thailand
- Can You Bet Online In Thailand Today
- Is Online Gambling Legal In Thailand
- How To Bet Online In Thailand
In Thailand the anti-gambling laws are many and include both Royal Decrees and Acts of Parliament. Before covering these, I should explain I am profession gambler that lives here and I am very familiar with our gambling industry. In this article I will explain the law, discuss how widespread gambling is and conclude with information regarding our legal forms of gambling which are horse races held in Bangkok and our national lottery.
Thailand Gambling Law
Thailand's Richest. Japan's Richest. Churchill Downs Stock Is A Risky Bet In Online Gaming Pool. Trefis Team Contributor. You can play with assumptions, or try scenarios, as-well-as ask. Punters with difficulty to access the Internet find it challenging to work and use the online sites. However, almost all online betting platforms are easy to use and understand. If you want to play Baccarat online in Thailand, it will take you a couple of minutes to quickly log in and place your bet. Although during login, they might require things such as your name and age, username, and password, the process is quick. If you can think of anything to bet on, there's a good possibility you can find somewhere to pick on it. In this document on the different terms used in sports betting lines, including probabilities point spreads lines etc. One of the first aspects of sports betting every.
The primary law that regulates gambling in Thailand is the Gambling Act, B.E. 2478 (1935). If you click that link you will see there are 46 ministerial regulations, 16 legal opinions of Council of State and a Royal Decree all related to this law.
There are also many separate laws relating to gambling. One example is the Playing Cards Act, B.E. 2486 (1943) which makes owning, manufacturing and selling playing cards a crime. Furthermore, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, B.E. 2542 (1999) strengthens our anti-gambling law in certain cases.
While what I just shared is a lot of reading and doesn’t cover it all, Thailand gambling law is very easy to understand as far as gamblers (as opposed to those “offering gambling”) are concerned. In short: doing anything that may appear to be gambling (playing cards with no money involved even, or having gambling devices) and actual gambling – have penalties ranging from a 1,000 baht fine to one-year in prison.
In all my years involved in the Thai gambling industry, the closest I have heard of gamblers being jailed were the several times farang (foreigners) were detained and deported over poker. While perhaps it does happen, my experience is that Thai people caught gambling are only fined and quite often the matter is settled with an on the spot payment to police. It is also my experience that the strict part of our gambling law applies not to players but rather to gambling den owners, junkets, bookies, agents and gambling banks.
Thai People Love to Gamble
Despite our strict anti-gambling law, illegal gambling is widespread in Thailand. Chulalongkorn professor of economics Pasuk Phongpaichit is famous for his book Utsahakam Kan Phanan (The Gambling Industry). He estimates 70% of Thai people are regular gamblers. Living here and having visited dozens of provinces, my opinion is that he may be correct.
All over the country gambling can be found. In major cities casinos exist in the basement of office space malls and rented upscale apartments. In villages casinos are often in someone’s home, or are just a mat spread out to play dice such as in the photo shown left. Card games with friends, football betting with bookies, or playing numbers draws with non official sources are all common too.
Casinos Near Thailand
Another factor in gambling being widespread is all of our land borders have casinos. Wikipedia entry: Poipet can’t help but mention gambling because hosting Thai gamblers is what this Cambodian town is known for. Here the famous Crown Casino has a sportsbook with odds on nearly all football matches form around the world. They also have a gambling website 9crown.com. As you can see here, Thais can bet online and withdrawal in cash at the casino. As this casino is located in the land between entry/exit points it is possible to visit without being stamped in to Cambodia.
The same is true even in the Northeast. For example: the Nong Khai crossing into Laos is another area where Thais can gamble in the duty free zone between check points. We also have cheap flights with AirAsia to many casino destinations such as Malaysia and Singapore. While more upscale, 2012 Macau tourism figures show 231,295 arrivals from Thailand that year.
Junkets are another aspect of gambling in Thailand. The largest casino in Laos is Savan Vegas. Their company website is only offered in English and Thai (not Lao). Most interesting is their getting here page starts with:
“We offer a Thai Bus program, Rolling Program and Airfare program with high commission and other benefits. Any Junket or agent who is interested, please contact VIP Service or Sales and Marketing for more information at the following numbers:”
Getting Thai people to visit Cambodia and Lao casinos and Victoria Point in Burma (which is reachable by boat shuttle from Ranong) is big business, but understand these casinos may not be safe and there is no guarantee the games are fair. The Thai government has posted the notice shown right on their side of border crossings.
The same as Crown in Cambodia: Savant Vegas in Laos in another of many casinos in the region that offers online betting too. Players can play casino games online while in Thailand and then collect with this casino in person. Understand these online casinos have next to no regulation for game fairness. If you are interested in a much safer options read OnlineBetting.com’s 3rd series in the set of articles found at the bottom of the page.
Can You Bet Online In Thailand Now
Before I conclude this section, I feel compelled to stress that what I covered here does not even come close to covering how widespread gambling is in Thailand. Even our legal lottery has a massive black market with at least one person in every village running books that offer better odds than the official draw. Gambling on Muay Thai is very popular as is football betting, card games and even cock-fight wagers. In short it is best explained by saying most of Thailand loves to gamble.
Legal Gambling in Thailand
In Thailand we have only two forms of gambling that are exempt from the laws mentioned in this article. The less popular is horse racing in Bangkok which is mostly done at clubs reserved for hi-so (high society) types. However, twice a month there are public race days where betting at the track’s official tote is legal. This is something those living outside Bangkok are not very interested in. Far more popular, and it’s not even close, is playing our national lottery.
In Thailand the lottery is drawn on the first and sixteenth of every month. For reason most of the English language articles on the topic are poorly written and/or contain many errors I have decided to cover this final topic is its own article called Thai Lottery Explained.
1 Next:Explanation of the Thailand Lottery (Legal and Illegal) 3
Can You Bet Online In Thailand Online
Can You Gamble Online In Thailand
Can You Bet Online In Thailand Today
Online Betting in Thailand
Gambling is hugely popular in Thailand but online sports betting makes up just a small part of the overall action. The majority of gambling in Thailand happens underground, however it is estimated that over 60% of the Thai public engage in gambling.
Like many other Asian countries, Thailand has a long history of gambling. Even before the country was officially called Thailand there are records of organised betting taking place in the 1800’s. More recently, Thailand has been operating a state lottery which is played regularly by thousands of Thais.
At the visible level, online betting in Thailand is kicking into gear. More and more Thai locals are discovering that they can bet online through the form of Asian bookmakers that have entered the market. Although most Asian bookmakers accept players from Thailand, sometimes access to the sites is blocked by the Thai Government. This is rare but can easily be bypassed by using a VPN.
Why Use Foreign Sites?
The sites we recommend to Thai bettors are all secure, trusted by customers and verified by our team of experts. We have done the hard work and found the best options on the market, so we are confident you will have an excellent experience betting at these sites.
Also, betting with local bookmakers in Thailand can be riskier, as the laws surrounding these businesses are unclear. Sometimes authorities shut these bookmakers down and this could risk your bet being lost.
However, playing online is a lot more secure, safe and you can often get much better odds and offers too. Our team only recommends online betting sites that offer industry leading odds and great bonuses.
- Fully licensed and certified by independent regulators.
- Approved for secure financial transactions and data protection.
- Reputation for dealing with complaints quickly and fairly.
The Best Banking Options
Is Online Gambling Legal In Thailand
In recent years it has become a lot easier to fund betting online from Thailand. Websites have increased the amount of banking options they provide for Thai bettors. There are lots of options to fund your account, including:
How To Bet Online In Thailand
- Entropay – There are multiple reasons to open an account at www.entropay.com. The first is because Thai debit cards such as the Be1st Visa Electron issued by Bangkok Bank don’t work at online gambling sites.However, via Entropay you can open up an account in USD, EUR, or GBP and fund your Entropay Virtual Card with your Thai debit card (note – you’ll need to register your card with Verified by Visa, or Mastercard Securecode for this to work). Once the account is funded you can then use that Entropay Virtual Card to deposit at our recommended betting sites.Another benefit of using Entropay is that you can order a Plastic Prepaid MasterCard from Entropay which you can transfer funds to from your Entropay Virtual Card. This Plastic Card comes with a Pin Number and can be sent to your home address in Thailand.This allows you to access your withdrawal via an ATM machine, and adds extra confidentiality. Your bank will only see you loaded Entropay (something that can be done for many purposes such as online shopping) and will never see the withdrawals because you’re making these at an ATM.
- Neteller – Most online bookmakers now also accept banking through e-wallets such as Neteller. The company has a fantastic reputation and has been operating since 1999. Based in the Isle of Man, Neteller offers security, anonymity and an easy way to move money across multiple betting sites.If you are looking to open multiple accounts and take advantage of slight differences in odds, Neteller will allow you to easily move money from one account to another. It also allows you to convert one currency into another. If you want to convert THB into USD, you can do so with Neteller.
- Bitcoin – Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that is becoming increasingly more popular. It is also now offered as a banking method by many online bookmakers. One of the major benefits of using Bitcoin is anonymity. If you want to bet online without a bank being able to see the transaction, Bitcoin is a great option.When it comes to cashing out from Asian bookies this process is simple. Request the withdrawal to be processed to your home Thai bank account and in 1-3 working days the funds will be in your account. The best thing about using Asian bookies is there are no fees. Here you can deposit, wager and cash out in Thailand Baht (THB).The Asian bookies charge you nothing in fees to deposit via bank transfer and all withdrawals are processed to your home bank account free of charge. To view the banking options at your preferred betting site, go to the list above and visit the site today. Further information can be found there.
The Most Popular Sports in Thailand
Thailand loves many different sports, but none is more popular to bet on than football. The English Premier League is the most watched league in the world and its popularity in Thailand only grew following the King Power International Group buying Leicester City FC in 2010.
The fairy tale Premier League win for Leicester in 2015/16 against huge odds again furthered the popularity of football in the country. Tragically, the club’s owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed in 2018 when his private helicopter crashed outside the King Power Stadium following a league match.
Aside from football there are plenty of other sports that Thai bettors love and regularly wager on. They include:
- Muay Thai
- Boxing
- Basketball
- Snooker
- Golf
- Tennis
- Badminton
No matter which sport is your favourite to bet on, our recommended sites will have you covered. Go to the table above, visit your favourite site and sign up today to get started.
Thai Betting FAQs
Strictly no but in reality it is very rare that Thai bettors would ever face problems when betting online. Many major bookmakers accept Thai players and 1000’s bet online regularly.
Can Thai bettors get a deposit bonus when they sign up to a bookmaker?Yes, Thai players will receive bonuses from most bookmakers when they sign up and deposit. Many bookmakers also provide special bonuses for regular players and on specific events.
What are the best bookmakers for betting on sports in Thailand?There are lots of great online betting sites available, especially ones that offer odds on football and boxing. Make sure you check that the site has a licence and good reputation before signing up.
Yes, all gambling is popular in Thailand despite most bets being made illegally. Many Thais have now chosen to bet online because of the better odds and choice of markets.
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