BANGKOK — Thailand's government has blocked 13,888 illegal online gambling pages and websites linked to the 2026 World Cup in an 18-day AI-backed crackdown, while warning businesses against showing live match broadcasts for commercial purposes without permission.

Thailand's Prime Minister's Office has outlined tougher measures to prevent legal violations during the World Cup, targeting transnational online football gambling networks alongside efforts to protect intellectual property rights.

The government stressed that businesses must strictly follow the rules to help create a responsible and lawful atmosphere for watching the global sporting event.

Thailand's Deputy Government Spokeswoman Ploytalay Laksameesangchan explained that the government had integrated the work of security and technology agencies to strengthen cyber-blocking measures against URLs linked to online gambling.

The operation has been carried out with support from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, which is using artificial intelligence to detect, analyze and screen suspicious data across social media platforms more accurately.

The proactive campaign follows direct instructions from Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who has ordered agencies to eradicate online gambling websites, which the government described as a social time bomb.

From June 1 to 18, officials filed petitions with the court and obtained court orders to block illegal websites.

They also coordinated with online platform providers to remove illegal pages and websites, bringing the total number of blocked or removed items to 13,888.

Warning about copyright

Beyond gambling, the deputy government spokeswoman also warned shop owners, restaurants and entertainment venues nationwide to comply with copyright rules for the 2026 World Cup.

The government supports Thai football fans watching and cheering the tournament, but underlined that all viewing must comply with the law and respect the intellectual property rights of official rights holders, Ploytalay said.

"The government wishes to stress that anyone who uses, rebroadcasts or redistributes the World Cup 2026 live broadcast signal without written permission from the official rights holder in Thailand — whether by recording matches and re-uploading them, re-streaming them online, livestreaming them on social media, or showing the signal inside shops to attract customers for commercial benefit — will be deemed to have committed commercial copyright infringement," she said.

"The law sets severe penalties, with imprisonment of six months to four years, a fine of 100,000 to 800,000 baht, or both," she added.

The government called on the public and business operators across all sectors to help set a new standard for responsible World Cup viewing, avoid all forms of gambling and strictly follow copyright procedures.

It added that compliance would help support the sustainable growth of Thailand's sports, media and related business sectors.