Techme101.com

Ten former and current Thai Members of Parliament (MPs) have been exposed for being involved with scam and gambling networks in the country. Thailand’s Justice Minister Pol. Lt. Gen. Rutthaphon Naowarat has said that an operation to put them behind bars could be undertaken.
Naowarat has said that there’s concern over potential political issues that stem from illegally obtained money. It’s a possibility that illegal vote buying could be undertaken if the MPs decide to run again.
All kinds of gambling, bar the country’s lottery and horse racing, are illegal in Thailand. The Justice Minister said that he’s been working with the cyber police team to issue guidelines on how to tackle any problems that arise.
During investigations, it was found that ten undisclosed MPs were involved with online gambling in some form. According to Thairath, an outlet from the country, this data has come from the cyber police, Royal Thai Police, and the Department of Special Investigation, which have been cooperating on the case.
Arrests expected for Thai MPs embroiled in gambling case
It’s expected that arrests will take place soon; the issue has caused a headache for the Justice Minister. On Facebook, he was criticized for his response to a post asking about the case. In it, Naowarat responded with a no, which he claims was misinterpreted by the MP candidate, Rangsiman Rome.

Acting Justice Minister Flags MPs Tied to Online Gambling and Scams
Acting Justice Minister Pol. Lt. Gen. Rutthaphon Naowarat said authorities maintain a database of more than 10 current and former MPs suspected of links to online gambling, scams, and drug-related activities.… pic.twitter.com/yM6Nnv4SKP
— Thai Enquirer (@ThaiEnquirer) January 8, 2026

Naowarat states in an interview about the matter that his answer had caused miscommunication and incorrect information to be spread. Rome took his response to mean that there wasn’t any corruption within the government.
Thailand was about to have a slight change of heart regarding gambling in 2025. The Entertainment Complex Bill was being proposed to introduce legal gambling zones that would be contained within locations like hotels. While backed by the previous prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, it’s now dead as the current Prime Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, is anti-gambling.
Featured image: Thairath News via YouTube / Canva
The post Ten Thai MPs exposed in scandal over online gambling and scam networks appeared first on ReadWrite.

The American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots, Kayshon Boutte, has penned an emotional essay as he recalls his gambling addiction in the hope it helps someone else going through the same thing.
Titled ‘How the hell did I get here?’, the essay begins by explaining that at 20 when he had a full ride scholarship at LSU and his future ahead of him, he would start his days by betting.
“I’d stay up late and bet. All day. All night. I had insomnia, so if I woke up in the middle of the night, phone next to the bed, I’d bet. Any little money I had, it was going straight to FanDuel.”

I’m sharing my story with @PlayersTribune in the hopes it helps someone else going through the same thinghttps://t.co/p2qENUAOUf
— Kayshon Boutte (@KayshonBoutte1) January 7, 2026

He explained how he knew he was addicted, stating how he would be in his own world on his phone: “Laying in bed, in the dark, in pain, with the light glowing on my face. It was a lonely experience. Like you in an empty casino, alone at the blackjack table.
“Adding more money to the account, and more money, and more money, with the press of a couple buttons. You lose touch with reality. It gets to a point where it feels like the money ain’t even real. But it is real, because in the real world, I was living paycheck to paycheck. Waiting on NIL checks to clear.”
Kayshon Boutte says he was living paycheck to paycheck in gambling essay
The athlete said he put a huge $90,000 of his own money into gambling and lost it all, with an ankle injury then leading him into depression. When he felt like he had lost his identity, through no longer being able to play football while injured, he turned to gambling.

“That’s how I ended up going down a dark road. That’s how I ended up pacing around my apartment at 3 o’clock in the morning, betting on whatever I could bet on at that time of night. I don’t even know….. It honestly didn’t matter. You’re just caught in the cycle.”
Two things are said to have saved the man: one was being able to play football again, and the other was becoming a father as a junior in college. He says he owes the Patriots organization everything, while stating they stuck by him even though they could have simply walked away.
In a bid to help those who are currently struggling, Boutte ended with: “So if I have a message for the football world, I guess it’s this: Don’t give up on these kids, man. I know there’s more stories like mine out there. Betting is just gonna keep getting bigger and bigger. Gambling is what it is. I’m not here to preach. It’s going to exist. But people who are in a dark place, they’re gonna use it to escape. Athletes, especially. I’m telling you, because I lived it.”
Speaking at a New England Patriots conference after publication, Boutte added: “Yeah, it was hard to admit I needed help. When you’re addicted to something, no matter how much you know you need help, you still tend to go back to the same thing.
“I sent it two weeks ago and had time to go back and look at it. It feels good to get everything out. A couple people told me it was a good opinion. I heard it a little bit around the building. I think it was pretty cool.”
Many have taken to social media to leave words of thanks and to express for the player, following the X post sharing the article receiving almost 800,000 views.
Featured Image: Credit to New England Patriots via YouTube / Canva
The post Patriots player Kayshon Boutte looks back on gambling addiction in essay appeared first on ReadWrite.

DraftKings has been hit with a lawsuit accusing the betting company of breaking wagering laws in seven different states. The multi-state class-action is being headed by Michael Koester, based in Michigan, who claims that DraftKings is allowing players to increase gambling limits, circumventing state law.
This type of law is implemented in Michigan, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, and New York. However, according to court documents reviewed by ReadWrite, Koester alleges that DraftKings allows users to go around this without a waiting period before kicking in.
Koester claims to know this information, as he himself has done it. According to the lawsuit, Koester has been a DraftKings user since 2021, with a spending limit implemented on December 31 of that year. Over the following year, he repeatedly got around this limit without being made to undergo the cooling-off period usually expected.

“The plain meaning of this regulation is clear that once a patron establishes any responsible gaming limitations (deposit, spend, time, wager amount), there must be at least a 24-hour waiting period after patron requests an increase to their self-imposed limits before that request can take effect.”

Koester also didn’t immediately jump into the lawsuit. It’s reported that he had contacted both DraftKings customer service and the Michigan Gaming Control Board, both of which shut down their investigations.
By law in these seven states, DraftKings should have imposed a waiting period before higher wagering limits could take effect.
DraftKings interprets law a little differently
However, DraftKings doesn’t see it that way. Instead, the betting app company claims that restrictions can only be circumvented if they expire.
Should the lawsuit be won, Gambling Insider reports that the case could expose DraftKings to large-scale refund claims. DraftKings will presumably be fighting this one hard, as it would open them up to refunds and other federal trouble.
In Connecticut, DraftKings has already had to hand back more than $3 million to thousands of customers after regulators decided some of its bonus offers broke state gaming and advertising rules. On top of that, a couple of class-action lawsuits over misleading sign-up and so-called “risk-free” bonuses are still moving forward after judges refused to throw them out.
In April of 2025, DraftKings was met with another class-action lawsuit, which took them to task over “risk-free” promotions. Massachusetts hit them with a $450K fine over credit card bets in August.
ReadWrite has reached out to DraftKings for comment on the lawsuit.
Featured image: DraftKings
The post DraftKings faces down seven state wide class-action lawsuit over gambling limits appeared first on ReadWrite.

A popular Australian poker player has taken to social media to apologize after cheating at a recent event, with the Southern Poker Tour also confirming he is no longer a brand ambassador.
Chris Skinner, who took part at the Poker with Fred New Years Eve game in Cobram, Victoria, did put out a statement on a Facebook profile, but this has now been made private. Within the statement, he said “I cheated, I brought chips into play that I had no right to bring into the game. No matter the amount or the result, it was wrong. There is no excuse for it.”
A Facebook apology post in which Chris Skinner admits to cheating at a local poker game and accepts the consequences. Credit: Facebook / Chris Skinner
He went on to say he will be apologizing in person to the players involved and says he’s offered a contribution toward a future local tournament as a gesture of accountability.
The issue has caused many in the community to share comments of disappointments and shock. On January 7, the Southern Poker Tour (SPT) also released a statement to firstly say Happy New Year to their followers, before stating this wasn’t the way they wanted to start the year.
“Like the rest of the poker community, we were deeply shocked and extremely disappointed to hear about the incident that took place at the POKER WITH FRED New Years Eve game in Cobram, Victoria,” the sports league said.
Southern Poker Tour issues public statement on cheating scandal
They went on to confirm that SPT and Chris have parted ways and Chris will no longer be the brand ambassador for the league. The poker player was the first brand ambassador for the league, having signed on in May 2022. At the time, he was described as being a huge supporter of the SPT and a regular at events.
The man has also been banned from participating in any SPT tournaments. “SPT pride itself on providing fair and ethical events and in no way will condone these sorts of actions. We would like to commend Fred Braybon on his management and transparency of this incident,” the league stated in the post.
They have made additional points on record too, for further transparency, with these stating that “Chris has only ever transported poker tables for SPT with our first two years of operation. SPT have since managed all of our own transportation.”
They continued: “SPT chips are transported to and from our venues by only either SPT owners or our highest ranked staff members, and are stored securely after each series. As part of our SPT series host venue agreements, the venue needs to provide us with a secure room for us to sort and store chips throughout each series. Only staff have access to these rooms.”
Featured Image: Via Southern Poker Tour Facebook statement
The post Chris Skinner steps down as brand ambassador of Southern Poker Tour after cheating scandal appeared first on ReadWrite.

Cambodia extradites billionaire businessman Chen Zhi to China, where he is accused of running a vast scam empire spanning cryptocurrency, illegal gambling, and labor camps.
Prince Group, the company being used to commit the alleged crimes, has had its operations in Cambodia suspended. The UK has sanctioned the company as a whole. Meanwhile, his extradition to China will see him facing charges, with the official translated announcement from the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China stating: “… public security authorities will soon issue warrants for the first batch of key members of Chen Zhi’s criminal group, determined to apprehend all fugitives.
“Public security authorities warn criminals to recognize the situation, stop before it’s too late, immediately turn themselves in, and seek lenient treatment.”
Zhi was arrested alongside two other Chinese nationals, Xu Ji Liang and Shao Ju Hui. Last month, Zhi was also stripped of his Cambodian nationality by royal decree, which he’d acquired in 2014.
Businessman Chen Zhi was under investigation since 2020

According to reports, Chinese authorities had been investigating Zhi’s business since 2020. That business involved holding people against their will to act in various scams, designed to defraud millions out of their victims. In total, it’s estimated that Zhi had amassed billions in stolen cryptocurrency, which was compounded by the illegal gambling rooms that Prince Group was behind.
In 2025, $15 billion worth of Bitcoin was seized by the US authorities.
However, despite the mounting evidence, Cambodia’s government has been described as urging the UK and US, which have placed sanctions on Prince Group, to have enough evidence to back up their claims against Zhi.
Zhi’s bank, Prince Bank, has entered liquidation and is now banned from offering any kind of banking services. However, the BBC reports that existing customers can still withdraw their cash, as well as repay any loans that they may owe.
Featured image: China Ministry of Public Safety
The post Cambodia extradites Chen Zhi, who allegedly ran multi-billion scam and gambling rings appeared first on ReadWrite.