Poker in Thailand: online rooms, the Gambling Act and Punnat Punsri

Thailand is home to one of the very best tournament players in the world, Punnat Punsri, and to a large and growing online player base, yet it has no legal casino and one of the oldest anti-gambling statutes in Asia. This page sets out the legal position honestly, explains where Thai players actually play, and lists the online rooms that accept players from Thailand.

Is poker legal in Thailand?

The Gambling Act B.E. 2478 (1935) prohibits virtually all gambling in Thailand; the exceptions are the government lottery and betting at licensed horse-racing tracks. Card games for money, including poker, fall under the Act, and police periodically raid private games and underground poker clubs in Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai. Online gambling is covered by the same law and by the Computer Crimes Act, under which gambling websites are blocked; individual online players are rarely prosecuted, but the activity is illegal. A government bill to legalise casino-entertainment complexes was debated in 2025 and had not become law at the time of writing, so nothing on the ground has changed. Playing on an offshore room from Thailand is at your own legal risk. This is general information, not legal advice.

Where Thai players play live

Across the border. The casinos of Poipet on the Cambodian side and the resorts of Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh, which host WPT and other tour stops, are the traditional outlets, along with Macau, Manila and Jeju for higher stakes. Thailand's elite compete on the Triton series and the Asian Poker Tour in Taipei rather than at home.

Online poker for Thai players

GGPoker and WPT Global both list Thailand among the markets they serve, Natural8 has Thai-language support and a large local community, and CoinPoker offers crypto-only play. Thai banks block gambling merchant codes, so deposits usually run through e-wallets or crypto. Thailand has no tax on gambling winnings as such; income earned abroad by residents can be assessable when remitted, a point worth checking with an adviser if you play professionally.

Thailand's players

Punnat Punsri of Bangkok is ranked second in the world on the Global Poker Index and has about $39 million in live earnings, including Triton Main Event titles in Cyprus and Jeju. Kannapong Thanarattrakul turned a runner-up finish in the 2022 WSOP Online Main Event into a $2.1 million score, and Phachara Wongwichit is the country's Asian Poker Tour standard-bearer with two APT Taipei high roller wins.