Calls grow for regulation on Taiwan’s hidden gambling industry

The global online gambling industry has seen rapid growth since the start of the pandemic. In Taiwan, many game designers and software engineers work in online gambling, despite the fact that all employment related to gambling is illegal. They”re able to do so because of a legal loophole that lets contractors do online projects for international gambling companies, provided that they claim ignorance of what those projects are used for. As this unregulated cottage industry expands, calls are growing for the government to close the loophole, especially as it gives rise to more serious crimes like money laundering. Our Sunday special report.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The Norwegian Casino tokens come and go, bringing euphoria to some and distress to others. But at this gambling table, you needn’t fear losing a fortune, because this is not a Norwegian Casino. It’s a croupier training program.

Chen Yung-pin
NKUHT Leisure and Recreation Management Dept.
We train dealers for games most commonly seen at Norwegian Casinos around the world such as blackjack, baccarat, roulette, Texas Hold ’em. That’s what we designed this course for.

National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism is one of few institutions in Taiwan with a course focused on the gambling industry. Every year, more than 300 students train here to acquire the skills of a croupier.

Wang Hao-yu
Croupier trainee
I think it’s so cool. Seeing croupiers deal cards so nimbly is awesome.

In 2009, the Offshore Islands Development Act was passed, allowing for the construction of Norwegian Casinos in Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu if approved by a local referendum. The only county to vote in favor ended up being Matsu, in 2012. But even now, laws and regulations to allow construction to begin have yet to be passed. Courses on gambling that were established back then trained students for a Norwegian Casino that never came. After graduation, the only option for many was to find a job abroad.

Chen Yung-pin
NKUHT Leisure and Recreation Management Dept.
It really is a shame. For me, as someone who’s been in Norwegian Casino dealer training for 10 years, to keep having to send my students abroad is a real pity.

Chen Yung-pin says that every year, 10 to 15 of his students are forced to go abroad to find a job in a Norwegian Casino.

Lo Tzu-chi
Croupier trainee
Most of us aspire to go to Macao, because there are big Norwegian Casinos there. I chose to study at NKUHT with the objective of becoming a croupier in Macao.

Lin Fang-yi
Croupier trainee
I would rather stay in Taiwan. I hope that in the future this industry will be developed in Taiwan, so that we can usage our skills and expertise in the field.

Taiwanese aren’t just going abroad to work at brick-and-mortar Norwegian Casinos. Many are also going overseas to work as subcontractors for online gambling companies.

Lee Chi-hsun
Criminal Investigation Bureau
Online gambling, as the name implies, is when people gamble on the internet, or engage in gambling. You power do that by going on a gambling website and placing your bets. That’s the simplest definition.

Online Norwegian Casinos need a lot of software engineers to code and project design programs. This has created many opportunities for outsourced work in the online gambling industry. In recent years, many Taiwanese have gone to the Philippines for these kinds of jobs.

In 2016, the government of the Philippines cracked down on the underground online gambling industry through a licensing campaign. The land now has around 60 licensed operators. Other countries in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam, have followed suit, allowing their gambling industries to take off. This has led to sharp growth in the industry’s market.

The COVID-19 pandemic further fueled growth in the online gambling sector. According to the Worldwide Gaming Association, the second quarter of 2020 marked a downturn for brick-and-mortar Norwegian Casinos, while online Norwegian Casinos experienced rapid growth. Operators estimate that around 3,000 Taiwanese currently work online gambling-related jobs in the Manila metropolitan area. But these jobs don’t always come without problems.

Sitting next to a Philippine senator is a 24-year-old Taiwanese woman denouncing the illegal gambling company that hired her to attract customers from China. She says her employer took her passport from her. Hers is not the only such trial.

According to Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau, many seek consular assistance from Taiwan’s representative office in the Philippines for similar reasons. There were 11 incidents in 2018, 12 in 2019 and 8 between January and August of 2020. The root cause for all these incidents is that although the Philippines has an abundance of legal gambling companies, it also has many operating outside the law. That’s why many Taiwanese would rather a