Thai police have arrested Pei Min Si, a man identified as a leading figure in the underground online gaming industry. He was captured at a private villa in Pattaya’s Bang Lamung district on 9 April and is now in custody. The raid was conducted by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), Special Operations Division, and the Immigration Bureau, acting on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok.
The Chinese Embassy had issued a warrant for his arrest. Pei, 32, is considered a “key figure” in Myanmar’s iGaming circuit, allegedly overseeing a network of 239 channels with more than 330,000 active members across 31 Chinese provinces, according to the Chiang Rai Times.
Gambling crackdown across borders
China strictly bans online gambling, but it allows limited legal play in Macau’s regulated casinos. Since May 2024, Pei had been in exile, initially escaping Thailand via Laos with a Chinese passport. But in August 2025, he returned to Thailand using the controversial citizenship-by-investment “golden passport” from St. Kitts and Nevis.
Despite his attempt to conceal himself with his “golden passport”, authorities still identified him using biometric facial recognition, according to several media reports.
The “golden passport” programmes have long faced scrutiny. Despite the steep price, which include a minimum $250,000 donation, property purchases worth at least $600,000, or investments of $325,000 in approved developments, it allows foreigners to buy their citizenship with minimal vetting.
However, in 2024, a lawsuit exposed fraud and corruption involving government officials and developers, prompting St. Kitts and Nevis to introduce biometric enrollment in April 2026, with passports set to expire after July 2027 if not updated.
Scale of operations
Authorities estimate that since 2016, Pei’s illegal network generated THB13.18 billion ($409.8 million), with profits of about THB2.4 billion ($74.8 million). Additionally, Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has frozen 102 assets worth THB20.39 billion ($635.6 million), including luxury cars, cash, and securities.
Meanwhile, Myanmar claims to be clamping down on illegal gambling in Shwe Kokko, often described as the country’s “scam capital.” Recent raids reportedly destroyed 33,300 computers and nearly 22,000 mobile phones used for online betting.
In addition, since January 2026, authorities have demolished 633 of 635 illegal buildings in KK Park, another hub for telecom fraud in Myawaddy township. Yet, the New York Times has characterised these raids as largely “performative,” staged to appease Beijing rather than dismantle entrenched criminal operations.
China’s hardline approach
China continues to treat illegal gambling as a serious cross-border crime, equating it with kidnapping, forced labour, and drug trafficking. It has had a nationwide campaign against telecom fraud for years, pressuring neighbouring countries like Myanmar and other Southeast Asian governments to cooperate in shutting down scam centres.
In 2025, Beijing sentenced 11 members of Myanmar’s Ming family to death for running telegram fraud, online gambling, and drug trafficking. For over a decade, their operations have generated over CNY10 billion ($1.4 billion), according to several media outlets.
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