The World Cup has caused online football gambling among Thais to rise by more than 50 per cent, according to the Thai Webmaster Association (TWA).

During half an hour of live broadcasting of a match, there are as many as 7,000 Thais clicking to place bets ranging from Bt5,000 to Bt10 million.

TWA vice president Poramet Minsiri told a press conference that more than 2,300 websites worldwide provide online gambling, with at least Bt480 million Thai cash changing hands each year in the USA alone.

"Surprisingly, the number of women who gamble via the Internet is increasing by about 32 per cent. And about 100 legal gambling websites in foreign countries are targeted at youths. People of any age can register and have a bet around the clock," he said.

Two years ago, two big gambling companies had attempted to buy advertising space on Thai sites but were denied, Poramet said.

In Thailand, online gambling comes in the form of websites providing information or comments about football.

Colonel Suwat Changyodsuk, head of the cyber football gambling suppression team at the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said it was not easy to arrest cyber bookies because when the sites were shut, the webmasters could move to another host again and again.

From June 9-27, police arrested only one sub-agent of a major cyber bookie with circulating bets of Bt100 million. Some 618 bookies and gamblers were arrested in the period, when some Bt197 million changed hands.

"Online gambling provides easy betting because gamblers can do it at home. Moreover, they can bet throughout the match," Suwat said.

Sunit Chetara, of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation's information technology division, said parents could download a browser in order to block taboo sites, including gambling pages, at www.plawan.com.

Chatrarat Kaewmorakot

The Nation