June 23, 2026
Bangkok – The Thai government has blocked 13,888 illegal online gambling pages and websites related to the 2026 World Cup in an 18-day AI-assisted crackdown, while warning companies not to broadcast live coverage of matches for commercial purposes without permission.
The Prime Minister’s Office has outlined tougher measures to prevent breaches of the law during the 2026 World Cup, seeking to protect intellectual property rights and targeting cross-border online soccer gambling networks.
The government stressed that businesses need to strictly adhere to the rules to create a responsible and lawful atmosphere for watching global sporting events.
AI detects gambling activity
Deputy government spokesperson Proitare Laksamesanchan explained that the government has integrated the efforts of security and technology agencies to strengthen cyber-blocking measures against URLs related to online gambling.
The operation is being carried out with support from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, which is leveraging artificial intelligence to better detect, analyze and screen suspicious data across social media platforms.
This aggressive campaign follows a direct directive from Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who has ordered government agencies to eradicate online gambling websites, which the government describes as a social time bomb.
From June 1 to 18, during the 2026 World Cup, officials filed a petition with the court and obtained a court order to block illegal websites. We also worked with online platform providers to remove illegal pages and websites, bringing the total number of blocked or removed items to 13,888.
Warn venues about unauthorized screenings
Beyond gambling, the deputy government spokesperson also warned shop owners, restaurants and entertainment venues across the country to abide by the copyright rules for the 2026 World Cup.
The government supports Thai soccer fans to watch and support the tournament, but stressed that all spectators must comply with the law and respect the intellectual property rights of public rights holders.
“The government would like to emphasize that anyone who uses, rebroadcasts or redistributes live broadcast signals of the 2026 World Cup without written permission from Thailand’s official rights holders, whether by recording and re-uploading the matches, re-streaming online, live-streaming on social media, or running the signals in stores to attract customers for commercial gain, will be deemed to have committed commercial copyright infringement,” Ploitare said.
“The law provides for severe penalties, ranging from six months to four years’ imprisonment, a fine of 100,000 to 800,000 baht, or both,” she added.
The government called on citizens and businesses from all walks of life to set new standards for responsible World Cup viewing, avoid all forms of gambling and strictly follow copyright procedures.
He added that compliance will help support the sustainable growth of Thailand’s sports, media and related business sectors.
