Police raid illegal gambling hub in Bangkok, arresting 94 Vietnamese

Bangkok police have broken up a major Vietnamese-run illegal online gambling network and arrested 94 Vietnamese nationals in a raid on a condominium building in the Rama 9 area of Huai Khwang district on Wednesday night.

The raid followed complaints filed with Makkasan police by residents of the condominium, who became suspicious of a large number of Vietnamese nationals working in an office on the ground floor of the building.

The office was locked most of the time and guarded around the clock.

Undercover detectives were sent to conduct surveillance before the raid, which was jointly carried out on Wednesday night by officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, Makkasan police and immigration police.

Authorities found 69 men and 25 women working at the site, along with 500 mobile phones and 68 desktop computers and laptops.

Some of those arrested told police they had been offered jobs to handle customers and entered Thailand on tourist visas, unaware that the workplace was in fact an illegal online gambling operation.

They also claimed they were forced to work and were housed together in a rented house in the Ratchadaphisek area.

Police have pressed charges against all of them for being members of a criminal organisation and operating illegal gambling operations.