Lawmaker Denies Using Parliamentary Immunity in Gambling Case
MP Chonnapat Nakasum was charged with online gambling operations and money laundering involving over one billion baht, denying he used parliamentary immunity to avoid prosecution.
The Department of Special Investigation submitted charges against Phakkaotharam party MP Chonnapat Nakasum for involvement in online gambling operations, money laundering, and transnational organized crime with over one billion baht in circulation. On August 24, 2025, Chonnapat appeared at the Office of the Special Public Prosecutor to receive the charges and submitted a nine-point fairness request, stating he has never invoked parliamentary immunity despite facing concurrent proceedings at multiple jurisdictional levels.
Chonnapat emphasized that parliamentary protection applies only to investigation and summons stages, not indictment, and described his legal battle as weathering a storm rather than a political assault. He stated his intention to clear his name of accusations that he used parliamentary privilege, insisting he stands as an ordinary citizen under the same laws as everyone else. The public prosecutor will rule on the case on September 28, 2025.
The case stems from an investigation into a large-scale online gambling network in southern Thailand with financial links to Chonnapat. In March 2025, the Department of Special Investigation conducted "Operation Gameflow," searching ten locations across four provinces—five in Songkhla, two in Nonthaburi, one in Pathum Thani, and two in Bangkok—based on 26 court arrest warrants related to the gambling network.
