Thailand’s police’s anti-gambling task force, Centre for the Prevention and Suppression of Illegal Euro 2024 Football Betting, has arrested up to 3,863 suspects during the special operation to curb illegal gambling throughout the UEFA Euro 2024 championship period. 

According to assistant national police chief Pol Lt Gen Akradet Pimolsri, in a report by Thailand news agencies, the taskforce began the operation on 14 June 2024, the same day Euro 2024 kicked off.

Of the 3,869 arrests, 3,017 suspects had been caught at illegal gambling dens, which included 50 alleged bookies and 2944 alleged gamblers. 

In total, 224 local illegal gambling websites had also been closed down and 846 suspects arrested, in which 145 were suspected operators of said websites and 701 were believed to be the clients and visitors of said illegal sites. The websites had a combined circulation of TBH2.4bn baht in gambling money actively circulating, as the authorities confirmed.

Just last week, the Centre for the Prevention and Suppression of Illegal Euro 2024 Football Betting updated the arrest figures, which have reached up to 2,600, combining both online and offline illegal bettings with TBH1.8bn involved and 142 illegal websites taken down.

The business operators and establishments have also been warned to adhere to regulations or face legal action.