Thai police on the lookout for football gambling as the Euros kick off today

[webfact]

Police on the lookout for football gambling as the Euros kick off today


Image: Sanook

BANGKOK: -- A national police chief has warned the public as well as colleagues about getting involved in betting on the Euro 2016 football tournament that begins in France today.

Police general Pongsaphat Pongcharoen said that authorities will be especially looking out that youth do not get involved in betting "and become a new generation of gamblers".

Pongsaphat has ordered for all police departments involved in crime detection on the ground and in technological areas to pull together to stop illegal betting on the tournament. He warned that betting syndicates would have their assets seized and that police already have some advance information they are working on.

He also warned sternly about policemen getting involved in betting saying that any officers who break the gambling laws will be severly punished.

And in related news police at the border checkpoint between Thailand and Cambodia at Aranyaprathet say they have collected more than a 150 leaflets advertising online betting services. The leaflets are said to have originated at the Poi Pet casino across the border and were left at pedestrian border crossing areas.


Image: Thairath

Officers gathered up the leaflets and burnt them so they would not fall into the hands of young people in particular.

Major international football tournaments like the Euros and the World Cup always see a marked spike in illegal betting as soccer mad Thais seek to add some extra spice to the events.

Source: Sanook, Thairath


-- 2016-06-10

[Somtamnication]

What, did they install mirrors at the police stations?

[NongKhaiKid]

Yes on the lookout for gambling run by syndicates they don't control or are paid off by.

Syndicated gambling isn't part of the free market economy.

[kingalfred]

Of all the crime issues in.Thailand the police are putting effort into catching "Euro football.Punters"? Do you ever need an example of "basket case" chasing crime, there you have it. The RTP

Edited June 9, 2016 by kingalfred

[Kru Baa]

It's getting so ridiculous now I start laughing as soon as I hear the word RTP without even knowing what they did.

[SABloke]

''He also warned sternly about policemen getting involved in betting saying that any officers who break the gambling laws will be severly punished.''

Did he say this before or after he placed his bet

[Partenavia]

When you think of all the other issues they could be concentrating on, this is pathetic.

[mtls2005]

There is a daily underground football wagering publication 365 days, half an A4, full up with matches. If there are no top shelf matches they fill it up with anything they can find from the Azores to Zimbabwe, incl. industrial leagues in Kazakhstan.

While there is an increase in baht volume, following salary day and during peak league fixtures, I'm not sure why they decide to have a crack-down for a day or two? Oh, right. Never mind.

[Maggusoil]

I am not a gambler. I've never been good enough. I still don't understand how a private contract between two individuals

which harms neither of them constitutes a crime. Against who? Or whom?

If it does, then shouldn't the police be prosecuting all the people who win bets and protecting the losers?

The only crime would be winning a bet and perhaps someone's house or something like that.

This is State meddling in the normal affairs of ordinary people. Its absurd.

As posters have pointed out, its revenue the State can't get its hands on. That's the crime.

[The stuttering parrot]

Legalise it.

Build casinos.

People can bet online find a bookie bet with mates. Or just wander over the border It's been done for years.

Better than the upcoming headlines of shootouts over betting on the Euro or World Cup etc.

Not to mention the revenue brought in by tourists etc.

[Winniedapu]

''He also warned sternly about policemen getting involved in betting saying that any officers who break the gambling laws will be severly punished.''

Did he say this before or after he placed his bet

Severely punished...

Well, first time for everything I suppose. But wait! By 'severely' do they mean they'll get a good talking to - with some shouting?

W

[wabothai]

quite silly

[Caveat Emptor]

Isn't it usual for someone from the Education Dept to warn schools to be on the lookout too for students betting on this tournament ?

Then there's the other warning about students missing classes or not being attentive enough with the valuable advice on ' warning signs ' such as students looking tired because they stay up to the wee hours to watch the games on television !

[chainarong]

This is another regular that crops up during some big kick off , wait to see them realty get wound up with the world cup , , with gambling, Thai's are likely to blow the family budget for the next couple of years, so they try to counteract this, it is all a waste of time, they know that , but lots of families hurt after big league matches and gambling is frowned upon from the big castle, the whole process is similar to rain making....................................

[mtls2005]

Build casinos.

Done. Most every town already has a casino. You've probably passed by more than a few without realizing it.

FWIW, most forms of gambling, from cock/fish fighting to underground lottery are well entrenched. Taxes (profit from both gaming and loans) are paid to the local band of "influential people". This won't change.

Even if large, international casinos do get built here, they won't allow the local serfs to enter/participate. They will be for international clientele.

[Snackbar]

What a joke in a land of contradiction, deception and stupidity.

[exbikey]

''He also warned sternly about policemen getting involved in betting saying that any officers who break the gambling laws will be severly punished.''

Did he say this before or after he placed his bet

If he doesn't win will his 'bookie' be transferred to an 'Inactive Position'?

[Srikcir]

Officers gathered up the leaflets and burnt them so they would not fall into the hands of young people in particular.

Reminds me of the North Korean military shooting down ballons from South Korea carrying contraband such as flash drives and DVD's - all illegal and targeting the youth.

[Bender]

Legalise it.

Build casinos.

People can bet online find a bookie bet with mates. Or just wander over the border It's been done for years.

Better than the upcoming headlines of shootouts over betting on the Euro or World Cup etc.

Not to mention the revenue brought in by tourists etc.

and within a week, 90 percent of the population will be under heavy debt to loan shark...

[SABloke]

Legalise it.

Build casinos.

People can bet online find a bookie bet with mates. Or just wander over the border It's been done for years.

Better than the upcoming headlines of shootouts over betting on the Euro or World Cup etc.

Not to mention the revenue brought in by tourists etc.

and within a week, 90 percent of the population will be under heavy debt to loan shark...

5% less than currently. I think that's a good thing

[sapson]

Lunatics running the asylum!

Their are no small betting shops in every other small suburb street corner and of course their is no prostitution funded by men in uniforms because both would be illegal.

We all know how the country is.........but what grates is the deluded officials in TAT the government and the RTP continually issuing these pointless press releases of denial or intention of policy.

Why don't they do their job or not as the case may be, but foremost just shut the flluccck up about it!.

[keithathome]

I bet this clampdown doesn't come off. 5:4 odds

[Redline]

Come on. The country is about to lose one of the only industries keeping the country going (fishing), and they are spending manpower on gambling? Get it together

[jerojero]

Government so worried about gambling, while millions of traffic violations blatantly ignored daily .

[luk AJ]

I was told that gambling during Thai boxing matches is legal..? Where is the logic?

[exbikey]

Come on. The country is about to lose one of the only industries keeping the country going (fishing), and they are spending manpower on gambling? Get it together

I'm glad you added the '(fishing)'.

For a (very) brief moment I thought you were talking about the massage industry when you said "...about to lose one of the only industries keeping the country going..."