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Esports have slowly but surely increased in popularity in the United States, but there’s still a long way to go before they’re able to match the hype they’re able to generate in other countries. That includes some of the nations that compete in Southeast Asia’s version of the Olympics, which was rocked by a scandal that led to a couple being hit with criminal charges for cheating during a video game competition.
We live in a world where you can not only make a living playing video games but become a borderline celebrity thanks to platforms like Twitch. You need to be a fairly competent gamer to find success in that particular realm, which has some crossover with but doesn’t directly overlap with the world of esports.
That second category largely revolves around video games where you go head-to-head with human opponents. Competitors tend to focus on certain subgenres, whether it’s shooters like Call of Duty or CS: GO, fighting titles like Tekken and Street Fighter, and MOBAs like League of Legends and Dota 2.
That last category comprised the majority of the esports competitions that were featured at the Southeast Asian Games last year, and a couple in Thailand narrowly avoided spending months in jail for flouting the rule during the event.
Two esports players were jailed in Thailand after they were caught cheating during the SEA Games
The Southeast Asian Games are a biannual competition that was most recently held in Thailand in 2025. The event featured more than 9,000 athletes from 10 different countries competing in close to 575 events across 50 sports, which included six esports competitions where medals were up for grabs.
Naphat Warasin, who is known as “Tokyogurl,” competed for the host country in the women’s tournament that revolved around the MOBA Arena of Valor. Thailand’s men’s team managed to earn the gold in that event, but Naphat’s team withdrew from the competition where Vietnam secured the top spot after she was caught getting some outside help.
According to The Bangkok Post, the co-conspirator in question was Chaiyo, another popular esports competitor also known as “Cheerio,” who was given remote access to her computer and attempted to play on her behalf during the SEA Games.
Naphat was hit with a lifetime ban, and she and Chaiyo ended up getting hit with criminal charges after being accused of violating the Computer Crime Act with a stunt that led to a judge saying they were guilty of “jeopardizing the credibility of the country.”
The duo was initially sentenced to six months in jail after admitting to the ruse. However, the same judge reduced the sentence to three-and-a-half months earlier this week while saying they would be allowed to serve it under home confinement because they confessed.
What a world.