Patong gambling den raid fails to come up trumps

Phuket Gazette

Col Akanit said that he often receives reports of huge casinos operating illegally in Patong. Photo: Kritsada Mueanhawong

PHUKET: -- Patong Police and about 50 Kathu Territorial Defense volunteers stormed a venue thought to be a “huge” casino in Phuket’s main tourist town only to “go bust” and be forced to leave the premises without a single chip.

Acting on information received though the Prime Minister’s Office’s Complaint Center from anonymous local residents, police and Territorial Defense Volunteers descended on a rental shop complex located behind the JJ Plaza on Phang Mueang Sai Gor Road.

“We went to the place identified in the report, which are rental shop units B5 to B10. We also searched a premise attached to the shop units, a former bar called XTC,” said Lt Col Akanit Danpitaksat.

“We found nothing that could be used for gambling and nothing illegal. All we saw was living accommodations and a laundry shop,” he said.

Though the “big raid” left police empty handed, Lt Col Akanit said that two raids of small gambling dens in the last two weeks had netted between eight and nine people each.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...umps-19261.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-10-27

If anyone doesn't know what 'loss of face' looks like, just study the picture.

A tip-off that someone was coming maybe?

I would have thought it reasonable to do some actual "snooping" before ordering a large raid.

The small gambling dens in question probably consisted of low stakes card schools.

What a waste of police resources all over the country, not just Phuket, but of course it nets a number of arrests to boost the numbers.

Hasn't anyone here ever thought to "scout" prior to the ... "swoop"?

Would be SOP in the "real" world and might save some "face" as well.

Just wondering