Shuffle Slipped Past Thailand's AI Gambling Screen, Ministry Admits

The digital ministry blocked the crypto casino only after police wrote in and lawmakers found it still open. Officials blame thin Thai traffic, while a political row over who stands behind the site grows.

Francis Gable

09/10/26 · 2 minOctober 9, 2026 · 2 min read

Thailand's digital ministry admitted on Oct. 9 that its AI screening system never flagged Shuffle, and that the crypto casino was blocked only after police sent a request and the site made national news.

The admission matters because the ministry sells automation as its main weapon. It has blocked about 1 million gambling-linked web addresses so far in 2026, up from more than 500,000 last year, yet a casino whose Curaçao accounts show $235.2 million in 2025 revenue stayed open to Thai players.

The Ministry Blames Low Thai Traffic

Patchara Anantasilp, the ministry's top civil servant, said staff checked Shuffle after news reports and found it still reachable, according to the Bangkok Post.

"It may have had relatively few users in Thailand, preventing the AI system from detecting it. We therefore need to improve the screening system to make it more effective at identifying websites of this nature."

Patchara said the system struggles with sites whose servers and payments sit offshore, and blocked sites can return under new addresses. The ministry will ask the committee that sets its blocking rules to revise how it detects such sites.

The miss surfaced in Parliament. Members of a House committee chaired by opposition MP Rangsiman Rome found Shuffle still open from Thailand at about 11 a.m. on Oct. 7, as reported by the Thai Examiner.

A Foreign License Isn't a Shield, Ministry Says

Social media posts and Rangsiman have linked Shuffle to Taiyang Zhang, the Australian husband of governing-party MP Suchada Zhang Thaensap. She denies wrongdoing, and no official finding has established that link.

Justice Minister Ruthapon Naowarat said on Oct. 6 that preliminary checks found Shuffle licensed in Curaçao and outside Thai jurisdiction. On Oct. 7, his ministry's Anti-Fake News Centre said a foreign license alone does not place a gambling business beyond Thai criminal law.

The House committee is still waiting for the couple's asset declarations from Thailand's anti-corruption agency. Suchada has promised a full public explanation but has not given a date, and no new hearing for her or her husband has been set.

Treat gambling as entertainment you pay for. 18+, and if it stops feeling like entertainment, help exists at BeGambleAware and GamCare.