Key Points
- The Thai authorities are looking into whether licensed digital asset businesses in the country passed on money from online gambling.
- As of right now, wallet screening in Thailand isn’t mandatory they don’t have to start doing it until next year so it’s being applied retroactively to see if they followed the rules.
- No names have been mentioned yet, and no one has been found guilty, so we’ll have to see what happens if they do find any wrongdoing.
Some Social Media Posts Led to a Whole Lot of Trouble for Crypto Firms
A few people on social media posted about coins being moved between online gambling sites and crypto exchanges in Thailand, and now two of the country’s top financial regulators are clamping down on it.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Anti-Money Laundering Office have launched an investigation to find out if licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in Thailand let money from online gambling sites pass through their systems.
At this point, they’ve said no one’s to blame, let’s just take a closer look at the evidence before we make any accusations.
What they’re going to be looking at is whether the crypto sites are following the rules around customer checks, checking the background of their clients, making sure to review client records on a regular basis and filing away information about any suspicious transactions.
And as for risk, the SEC Secretary-General said that operators need to sort their clients out from high risk to low risk, and also make sure to track any suspicious transactions, warning that if they don’t they’re going to be in deep trouble.
A Rule That’s Being Put Off Till February
The probe is against the backdrop of a new rule that’s been written but isn’t quite in effect yet. On September 2nd, the SEC introduced their Travel Rule regulations, requiring operators to get the details they need to verify both the sender and receiver of funds, and also verify control of self-hosted wallets.
None of that is going to start being enforced till next February though they’ve got about 6 months to get their systems up to speed. Once it does kick in operators will need to use transaction analysis tools to flag any wallets that could be tied to dodgy websites or terrorism.
Thailand is actually a bit behind on this one according to this report, 83% of the places that were asked about in a FATF survey had already passed similar laws by 2026.
In the meantime, the probe is looking back at people who made transactions before the rule was even applied, to see how well the crypto firms were following their existing rules such as verifying customers and reporting any suspicious activity.
Why Payment Routes Keep Evolving?
This year, gambling funds have been continuously evolving, with regulators attempting to follow them from one bank to another. The Bank of Thailand now limits foreign exchange transactions for individual customers to THB800,000 daily, reducing that limit to THB200,000 in border regions.
The bank also sends data on stablecoin transactions to the SEC, looking for possible irregularities. Every new locked door drives the illicit money to the next available one.
According to the police, such is the trend from the streets’ point of view. Gambling schemes have evolved from using mule accounts to corporate accounts, PayPal payments, and cryptocurrency. At the beginning of 2026, more than 4 million Thais in the age range between 15 and 25 years old had already been involved in online gambling.
Real-life examples illustrate how large the amounts might be. In July, according to the cyber police, the All Game 248 network allegedly used 500 million baht per month to convert money into cryptocurrency to hide the financial footprint.
A month earlier, the arrest warrant was issued against Wang Yicheng accused of creating a scheme to launder scam and gambling funds using an illegal crypto mining operation. They believe he has left the country.
Blocking websites has not solved the problem. 945,075 gambling-related website addresses were blocked by authorities in fiscal 2026. However, the money still finds a way to move.
A Separate Case of Shuffle.com
The SEC investigation happens amid a separate political issue making the gambling industry headlines in Thailand. On Tuesday, Bhumjaithai MP Suchada Zhang Thaensap and her husband, Zhang Taiyang, met DSI investigators over his former participation in Shuffle.com.
Suchada explained that he used to own approximately 1.4% of the company through a British Virgin Islands company and sold it prior to her becoming a member of parliament. Other sources mention that he owned precisely 1.47%.
Former Democrat MP Sirichok Sopha wonders why Shuffle has banned Thai players during this period of time. He thinks the stake carries more power than the ownership percentage indicates. The couple denies the accusations, and no charges have been pressed so far.
Previously, the Justice Ministry issued a clarification stating that having foreign licences does not protect from Thai criminal law. It was issued following the suggestion made earlier by the Justice Minister that a Curaçao licence for Shuffle makes it unreachable for Thai law enforcement agencies.
What’s Next for Crypto Firms?
In the next few weeks, exchanges are going to be under scrutiny. They have to provide customer data and risk ratings as well as reports on suspicious transactions.
Neither agency has issued any deadline for the outcome of their investigations. Nevertheless, the Travel Rule clock is ticking towards February when wallet screening becomes obligatory.
Expert Opinion: Thailand Made the Rule and Provided Six Months to Screen
We are convinced that this investigation was necessary, but at the same time, it reveals a certain problem regarding timing. In September, Thailand approved its Travel Rule and gave close to six months before screening becomes mandatory.
Six months might seem like a sufficient period to upgrade your software. However, according to police estimates, one gambling network was sending over 500 million baht into cryptocurrencies per month.
Our opinion is that both the industry and the gambling network received enough time for preparation. It could have been more reasonable to introduce screening phases in the biggest exchanges.
Obviously, many of you will argue against us, and it is justified. Too hasty implementation usually leads to poor screening results, false alarms and blocked accounts of regular users.
Nevertheless, we believe that the most dangerous situation is to have no information after the end of this investigation. In case the regulator does not reveal any results, people will make assumptions themselves.
Assumptions are already spreading because of the Shuffle case, even though there is no official connection between them. Public information is the only way to protect honest operators as well as the general public.
Our conclusion is very straightforward and debatable: Thai crypto regulations became very strict on paper.
Share
4 views
