Thailand consults on letting minors play billiards and updating boxing rules under 1935 Gambling Act regulation

Thailand's Department of Provincial Administration is seeking public comment until 22 November 2026 on amending a 1960 ministerial regulation issued under the Gambling Act of 1935. The draft would let children and young people play and practise billiards and snooker under set conditions, and would place boxing under the oversight of the Sports Authority of Thailand instead of government bodies named in the old text.

The consultation

The Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA), part of the Ministry of Interior, opened the consultation on 22 October through the government's Central Law System at law.go.th and via a QR code, according to a release published on the Royal Thai Government website on 23 October. Comments are invited on the principles and key points of a draft ministerial regulation issued under the Gambling Act B.E. 2478 (1935), which would amend Ministerial Regulation No. 17 (B.E. 2503, or 1960) under the same Act. The consultation runs until 22 November 2026.

Ploythalay Laksameesangchan, deputy spokesperson of the Office of the Prime Minister, said the aim was to remove outdated legal restrictions, bring the rules in line with current conditions and with how sport is administered in Thailand, and link them to sport-specific legislation in order to support the development of Thai athletes. The regulation has been in force for a long time and some of its provisions have become obstacles for sport, she said. DOPA's director-general announced the consultation on 22 October, Bangkok Biz News reported.

Billiards and snooker for young players

The first change concerns billiards and snooker. Billiards is recognised as a professional sport under the Professional Sports Promotion Act B.E. 2556 (2013), but the existing regulation still bars people who have not reached the age of majority from playing or practising, which the government said holds back the development of young athletes. The amendment would allow children and young people to play or practise under criteria to be set. The release did not specify what those criteria would be.

Boxing moves under the Sports Authority

The second change concerns boxing. References in the regulation to the bodies that organise bouts, currently the Department of Physical Education and regional education divisions, would be replaced so that boxing falls under the supervision, rules, procedures and conditions of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), or is certified by SAT. The government said this would align the regulation with the current Boxing Act B.E. 2542 (1999).

Legal basis

According to the release, the drafting follows a cabinet resolution of 10 March 2026 that requires state agencies to hold consultations from the stage at which the principles of a law are proposed, together with Section 5 of the Act on Legislative Drafting and Evaluation of Law B.E. 2562 (2019), which provides that state agencies should consult those affected and take their views into account in the law-making process.

Wider review of the 1935 Act

The consultation is the latest in a series of moves this year touching the 1935 Gambling Act, which still governs gambling in Thailand. DOPA's Investigation and Legal Affairs Bureau listed a separate consultation on the principles of a new draft Gambling Act, held through the Central Law System from 22 June to 22 July 2026.

Earlier, the House of Representatives' public comment system ran a consultation from 22 May to 21 June 2026 on a private member's bill to amend the Gambling Act, submitted by MP Non Paisanlimcharoenkit and others. Its explanatory note says snooker, as a game of the same type as billiards, is still classified as gambling under the 1935 Act, and proposes removing billiards from the list of gambling games in the schedule to the Act.

The current DOPA draft does not go that far: according to the government release, it amends the conditions in the ministerial regulation rather than the Act itself. The outcome of the June–July consultation on a new Gambling Act has not been announced in the sources reviewed. Thailand's gambling framework has also drawn enforcement attention elsewhere this year, including when a 1.47% stake brought in the DSI, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the digital economy minister.

Why it matters

Thailand's gambling framework still rests on a law passed in 1935 and on implementing regulations dating back decades. The proposals are narrow, covering who may play billiards and which body oversees boxing, but they are part of a wider review of the Gambling Act this year. For enforcement-related coverage, see AskSpinner's report on the immigration raid on an alleged gambling and scam operation in Bangkok's Sai Mai district. Across Southeast Asia, regulators and police have also been redrawing the line between gambling and fraud, as in Cambodia's probe of 28 casinos after reclassifying online betting as cyber fraud.