Two Korean tourists were arrested for allegedly running illegal gambling websites in Thailand.

The South Korean men, whose names were not disclosed by police, had entered Thailand as tourists. They then rented a house in Udon Thani province which they used as their base to operate South Korean online casinos.

Police stormed the property on Wednesday, January 22, following reports of foreigners working illegally in the country.

Officers led by Immigration Bureau chief Police Lieutenant General Panumart Boonyalak searched the premises on a warrant issued by the local court. They seized computers, phones, and hardware tokens believed to have been used to run the online gambling services.

Police Major General Warissiri Leelasiri, acting commander of Immigration Division 4, said: 'They acted as system administrators for the online gambling websites Vinus Gaming Services and 100d-1. We also found several URLs of back-end system websites that handled finances and invited foreign customers to gamble via the Telegram application.

'Initial investigations found that most of the customers were South Koreans and used South Korean won to gamble. The monthly turnover is over 4 billion Korean won (around 2.8 million USD). The two South Koreans confessed that they took advantage of their status as tourists to work illegally, receiving wages of around 80,000 to 100,000 baht (2,400 USD to 3,000 USD) per month.'

Both suspects were arrested and charged with working as foreigners without a permit. They may be deported from Thailand and face a fine of up to 50,000 baht (1,500 USD).

Gambling in Thailand is highly restricted and largely illegal under the Gambling Act of 1935, with exceptions for state-sponsored lotteries and horse racing betting. Despite this, underground gambling and online gambling are widespread, though both are considered illegal and punishable by fines or imprisonment.

Poker, and other games like slot machines and baccarat, fall under the law's 'List A' and are prohibited.

Organisers of List A games may be punished with detention between three months and three years, and a fine ranging from 500 to 5,000 baht. While players may be either jailed for up to three years, fined up to 5,000 baht, or both.

(1 USD = 33.71 THB)