Two South Koreans have been arrested by police for allegedly operating online gambling websites from a house in Udon Thani province.

Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Panumart Boonyalak on Wednesday led a combined team of immigration and local police to search a rented  house in tambon Ban Lueam of Muang district.

They were acting on information that foreigners were engaged in illegal activities in the house.

They found two South Koreans managing online gambling operations and server systems.

The suspects were taken into custody for questioning. Authorities seized computers and other equipment used for online gambling on the active websites Vinus Gaming Services and 100d-1, both major South Korean gambling websites with users worldwide.

They seized lists of gamblers and financial records involving multiple currencies from around the world.

Pol Maj Gen Warissiri Leelasiri, acting commander of Immigration Division 4, said that during questioning the two suspects admitted to being an IT team for the illegal websites. They also handled operations for other gaming websites, supported gamblers making monetary transactions and marketed the websites to gamblers in South Korea, Thailand and other countries. Most of their clients were South Koreans.

The websites had a monthly turnover of 4 billion won, around 100 million baht, Pol Maj Gen Warissiri said. The two suspects had entered Thailand as tourists, then used Udon Thani as their base. They admitted to receiving monthly salaries of 80,000–100,000 baht each.

They face charges of working without a permit as foreign nationals.

All seized items and the suspects were being handed over to Muang Udon Thani police for legal proceedings. Police were coordinating with the South Korean embassy.

He said the suspects’ names were being withheld at their request. 

The second South Korean is arrested during the raid on the rented house in Udon Thani. (Photo: Chakkrapan Natanri)