Lao authorities detained 42 Thai nationals on 16 July after raiding a warehouse in Savannakhet Province allegedly being used to operate illegal online gambling websites.
The raid took place at around 1:30 PM in Nalao village, Kaysone Phomvihane City, after police received reports from local residents that a group of foreigners had rented the warehouse and were running online gambling operations around the clock.
During the operation, police detained 42 Thai nationals and seized numerous desktop computers and mobile phones believed to have been used in the operation.
Authorities said they are continuing to investigate the network to identify additional suspects and others linked to the operation.
The raid is the latest in a series of gambling-related crackdowns across Laos, particularly in provinces along the Thai border.
In June, authorities in Savannakhet detained 161 Vietnamese nationals during a raid on a resort in Sepon district, where police uncovered an illegal gambling operation involving cockfighting, card games, and dice betting. Officers seized 49 passports, 69 mobile phones, more than VND 2.1 billion (approximately USD 80,000) in cash, as well as laptops, safes, money-counting machines, CCTV server equipment, gambling tables, and playing cards.
Just weeks earlier, on 13 May, police detained 102 Thai nationals during raids on three locations in Kaysone Phomvihane City. The suspects were later handed over to Thai authorities at the First Lao–Thai Friendship Bridge on 21 May.
A similar operation was carried out in neighboring Bolikhamxay province later that month, where Lao authorities deported 106 Thai nationals after uncovering another alleged online gambling operation in Paksan district. The group was transferred to Thai police at the Fifth Lao–Thai Friendship Bridge on 27 May.
A similar case also emerged in the capital.
On 17 July, Vientiane authorities handed over 20 Thai nationals to Thailand after arresting them at an apartment in Sisattanak district on suspicion of operating an online gambling website.
