The Secretary of the Interior of Thailand, Daisuli, revealed that the new draft of the "Gambling Law" was open for public comment from January 30 to February 14. The results showed that 56.24% of the public agreed with the draft law, while the remaining 43.76% disagreed.
Most people believe that the new draft of the "Gambling Law" is in line with the current situation and can serve as an important tool for law enforcement officers to take action against offenders.
Those opposed believe that the new draft of the "Gambling Law" grants the government too much power, the punishment of "5-10 years imprisonment" is too severe, and it is not truly effective in managing online gambling. It is expected that on February 25, the Ministry of the Interior will submit the new draft of the "Gambling Law" to the Cabinet for review.
Main contents of the new draft of the "Gambling Law" include:
– Adding a legal definition of online gambling;
– Enhancing the powers of law enforcement officers, allowing them to inspect locations at any time, require operators to explain incidents and clarify facts;
– Supporting the presumption of guilt, where law enforcement officers have the right to seize or confiscate relevant evidence;
– Increasing the penalties for ordinary operators to imprisonment of 5-10 years, and for online gambling operators, increasing the penalty to imprisonment of 7-12 years; for ordinary participants, the maximum sentence can be up to 3 years of imprisonment, and for online gambling participants, the maximum can be 1-3 years of imprisonment; for gambling recruiters and advertisers, the penalty is increased to imprisonment of 7-12 years, and those involved in managing gambling systems or tools will also be penalized.
