Nong Khai — Lao authorities have sent back yet another group of Thai gambling website admins, both male and female, with two handovers taking place on the same day — one in the morning and one in the afternoon — totalling more than 70 people, after Lao authorities raided and dismantled a network that had rented hotel space in the Sikhom Market area of Vientiane Capital to operate three online gambling websites.
Today (21 Aug.), Police Lieutenant Colonel Thiyachapatth Rangsiphramankul, Deputy Superintendent of the Nong Khai Immigration Division, together with Police Lieutenant Colonel Phuttichai Chanthong, Deputy Superintendent of the Investigation Sub-division at Nong Khai City Police Station, and officials from the Royal Thai Embassy in Vientiane, Lao PDR, received 6 Thai nationals in the morning handover and 64 in the afternoon handover — both men and women — for a combined total of 70 people, from Lao authorities, following a sweeping crackdown by Lao officials on an online gambling and scammer network in Vientiane Capital.
The individuals were brought back to Thailand through the Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge No. 1 border checkpoint in Mueang Nong Khai District. They were then taken to undergo multidisciplinary screening procedures at the Mittraphap Conference Room of the Nong Khai Immigration Checkpoint. No individuals were found to be victims of human trafficking, no victims of deception were identified, and no persons subject to arrest warrants were found among the group.
Interrogation revealed that all of them had traveled to work on gambling websites — three in total: www.marvelbet168.online, ufastreaming.com, and macau888.space — earning average monthly wages of 15,000–18,000 baht, and staying at a hotel in the Sikhom Market area of Vientiane Capital. On 27 May 2026, they were subjected to a heavy crackdown by Lao authorities, and all were detained by Lao officials on charges of working without authorization and engaging in gambling-website-related work in Laos.
Once Lao PDR's legal proceedings were concluded, Lao authorities coordinated with their Thai counterparts to send all 70 individuals back to Thailand to face proceedings under Thai law. Employment officials are pursuing cases against them for traveling to work abroad without giving notification, while other security agencies are listing them as persons under surveillance in coordination with Lao authorities, and fines are being imposed on every individual.
