Casinos in Phuket - Your Guide to Phuket's Stringent Gambling Laws

Phuket, a city with marvelous rainforests, stupefying islands in the Andaman sea covered with mountains, owning some of Thailand’s spectacular beaches whose shores are adorned by 5 or 7 star hotels, resorts and spas and of course a whole new level of nightlife, surely deserves to be the supreme priority to your destination list. Serving as a lavish tourist destination with historical and religious sites, shopping, clubs and etc., Phuket has been quite successful in drawing tourists in humongous numbers from all across the globe.

Despite being a wonderful tourist destination, Phuket is famous for gambling activities as a majority of tourists find gambling ventures quite appealing. So let's find out in this article about the availability of casinos in Phuket.

Is Gambling Legal in Phuket?

Gambling practices such as betting over horse races, casinos, poker rooms, etc., were prohibited since the Gambling Act was passed in 1935 by the Thai government. Only lotteries run by the state government were considered legal.

Social pressure too led down the market of gambling and online casinos in Phuket and the whole of Thailand as well. Despite social and government pressure, the increasing popularity of Phuket as a tourist destination has opened the doors of business opportunities in gambling, thus you can find some illegally run casinos, poker rooms, arcade clubs, etc., in resorts, hotels, nightclubs or even some especially hidden public places. 

Gambling Laws in Phuket

All illegal gambling activities are run barring the sight of the police. Eventually, if you get caught in gambling ventures especially with the online casinos in Phuket, the punishment may be severe. The police officials can get you imprisoned or can charge you appropriate fines depending on the severity of the case. In most cases, the police authorities overlook such activities, but they do conduct raids on a regular basis which can have a severe impact on your later life. However, some established casino clubs such as Thung Thong and Tiger Casino have built several contacts with government officials and rich businessman which helps them run their gambling business with comfort and ease.

As gambling helps in nourishing the economic conditions as well as drawing huge numbers of tourists from across the globe, the Thai government is planning on legalizing gambling activities following the footsteps of its neighbours, Singapore and Macau. Besides financial benefits, gambling ventures would give employment benefits to the citizens of Thailand. However, this project is still in its adolescence phase and is currently designed to legalize gambling processes in Pattaya only.

Online Casinos and Neutral Zones

If you want to get involved in gambling businesses, it's better not to risk your comfort and life. Alternatives to illegal gambling casinos in the territory include online casinos in Phuket. Although, you could even visit a nearer territory where such activities are considered legal such as Singapore or Macau. There are certain resorts and hotels which offer transport alternatives for tourists who want to test their fortunes in gambling.

However, if you have a desire to gamble in Phuket without having risk issues, then online gambling can be your best bet. Though online gambling is illegal, a vast majority of internet users are accustomed to using VPN’s or proxy’s which safeguards them from disciplinary actions. Games such as poker, rummy, thai-roulette, baccarat, etc., are common to all these websites.

List of Online Casinos in Phuket

The below-mentioned websites are certainly the best ones which involve gambling activities at low risks. Try them if you want to satisfy your urge to gambling while in Phuket.

• Dafabet
• SpinCasino
• JackpotCityCasino

The list of some gambling games offered by these websites is Thai-roulette, poker, backgammon, Caribbean stud poker, Pai Gow Poker, Slots, video poker, 3 card poker, Baccarat and Blackjack.

However, soon you may even find lavish clubs, poker tables and casinos in Phuket as soon as the government finalizes its laws regarding the legalization of gambling. Till then we would firmly suggest to keep yourselves aside from such illegal activities