Thailand is preparing a broader campaign against illegal online gambling that will place greater emphasis on cooperation with social media companies, search engines and government agencies.
The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DE) has held discussions with public health organisations over a joint strategy designed around four main areas. One of the central measures is closer cooperation with major digital platforms to identify and remove gambling websites, advertisements and other content targeting Thai users.
Authorities plan to strengthen official channels through which members of the public can report suspected illegal gambling activity and submit information that could help enforcement agencies locate operators and associated websites.
The government also intends to increase coordination between the DE Ministry, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior and law enforcement agencies. The initiative will combine enforcement with public education aimed at reducing gambling-related harm and limiting access to illegal services.
Search engines are expected to be included in the programme, while specialised working groups would collect and analyse online data before sharing identified material with platforms including Meta and TikTok to support takedowns.
The latest initiative follows an extensive blocking campaign already conducted by Thai authorities. The DE Ministry reported that 883,012 illegal URLs were blocked between 1 October 2025 and 13 July 2026 through cooperation with relevant agencies and online platforms. More than 600,000 of those URLs were connected to online gambling and blocked following court orders.
Earlier figures showed the scale of the government’s enforcement efforts ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Between October 2025 and the end of May 2026, authorities acted against 673,699 gambling-related social media pages and URLs, including 635,717 blocked under court orders and another 37,982 removed through cooperation with platforms.
Thailand’s strategy increasingly treats illegal online gambling as a problem requiring both enforcement and intervention from technology companies. Authorities argue that government agencies cannot tackle the volume of illegal websites alone and are seeking faster information-sharing between citizens, regulators, police and digital platforms.
The initiative also comes as Meta faces growing scrutiny internationally over gambling content. The company recently began a pilot project with Nordic operator Paf aimed at identifying unlicensed gambling businesses, while Dutch trade association VNLOK has separately taken legal action over allegations that illegal operators continue to use Meta platforms to reach consumers.