Thai Esports Players Tokyogurl and Cheerio Sentenced to 3 Months for Cheating at SEA Games 2025

Thai Esports Players Tokyogurl and Cheerio

Two Thai esports players have been sentenced to detention after a cheating scandal at the Southeast Asian Games 2025 in the Arena of Valor competition.

A Bangkok municipal court handed down the verdict against Naphat Warasin, known by her in-game name Tokyogurl, and Kong Sutprom, known as Cheerio.

The court initially sentenced both players to six months. However, because they cooperated with authorities and confessed, the punishment was reduced to three months of detention.

Each player was also fined 24,000 baht, which comes to roughly $740 USD.

Under Thai law, a sentence of three months or less can be served in a detention center rather than a standard prison.

So what actually happened?

The incident took place on December 15, 2025, during the women's Arena of Valor semi-final between Thailand and Vietnam at the 33rd SEA Games. Tournament officials noticed something unusual during the match and launched an investigation. What they found was pretty damning.

According to reports, Warasin had shared her official competition account credentials with Cheerio. He then logged into her account from a location outside the tournament venue. On top of that, Warasin used the Discord app on a hidden device to share her screen, allowing Cheerio to essentially play the match in her place.

This is what the gaming community calls "ghosting," where one player secretly competes on behalf of another in an official match.

The consequences came fast. Thailand's women's RoV team was disqualified immediately. The Thai Esports Federation then pulled the entire national esports squad from the event, making the fallout even broader than just one match.

Thai police arrested both suspects on February 4, 2026. Warasin was picked up in Nonthaburi province, and Cheerio in Nakhon Phanom province.

Authorities searched both residences and seized evidence, including IP addresses, login devices, and chat logs that laid out the cheating plan in detail.

In court, both players admitted to everything. The charges were built around illegally accessing computer data and bypassing system security measures, both of which fall under Thailand's cybersecurity laws.

The judging panel found that the scheme "seriously undermined the transparency of professional athlete selection" and damaged Thailand's reputation on the international stage. Despite the reduced sentence, the court made it clear this was "not a minor offense."

Both defendants were granted bail while they appeal the verdict, with bail set at 24,000 baht each.

What makes this case stand out is that it went beyond the usual tournament ban or publisher-level fine. Most cheating incidents in competitive gaming are handled internally. The fact that Thai authorities pursued actual criminal charges under the cybersecurity law signals a shift.