Thailand Arrests Gambling Boss Pei Min Si in April 9 Pattaya Raid

Thailand police have taken Pei Min Si into custody after a dawn raid in Pattaya on April 9. Authorities linked him to the Shwe Kokko online gambling network and acted after a warrant request from the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok.

Good to Know

• Police arrested Pei Min Si at a Pattaya hideout on April 9.
• Authorities linked the network to 239 channels and more than 330,000 active members.
• Investigators say the operation generated THB13.18 billion since 2016.

Thailand Arrest Puts Focus Back on Shwe Kokko Network

The arrest pulls a long running case back into view. The Chiang Rai Times described Pei as “a key figure” in the iGaming underground of Myanmar, with investigators tying the wider operation to more than 239 channels and over 330,000 active members across 31 Chinese provinces.

China bans online gambling and keeps legal land based casino activity limited to Macau. That helps explain why Beijing has kept pressure on cases tied to cross border betting groups based around Myanmar border zones.

Authorities say Pei had been on the run since May 2024, when he left Thailand for Laos using a Chinese passport. In August 2025, he reportedly returned to Thailand with a “golden passport” from St. Kitts and Nevis.

That passport route has drawn criticism before. The citizen by investment programme in St. Kitts and Nevis allows applicants to secure citizenship through a minimum 250,000 dollar donation, a private property purchase of at least 600,000 dollars, or a minimum 325,000 dollar investment in an approved development.

Police say cost was unlikely to be a barrier. Since 2016, authorities have tied the gambling network to THB13.18 billion, or about 409.8 million dollars, in turnover and around THB2.4 billion in profit.

Shwe Kokko remains central to the case. Myanmar has said it is taking action against illegal iGaming and online fraud in the border area, which has often been described as the scam capital of Myanmar. In recent raids, police seized and destroyed 3,300 computers and nearly 22,000 mobile phones allegedly used to take online bets.

Still, outside criticism has not gone away. The New York Times described those raids as “performative”, arguing that the Myanmar junta used them to calm pressure from Beijing rather than dismantle the wider criminal structure.

Chinese authorities have treated the issue as part of a much wider crime problem. Cases tied to these networks often overlap with kidnapping, forced labour, telecom fraud, drug production, and drug sales. In February, China executed 11 members of the Ming family in Myanmar after convictions for telecom fraud, drug trafficking, and murder.