Gambling – when is Thailand going to benefit from the national addiction?

[Inspire]

Gambling – when is Thailand going to benefit from the national addiction?

If there is one thing you can set your watch by in Thailand it is that when there is a major international football tournament there will be a crackdown on gambling.

Whether it is the World Cup or the European Championships you can bet your bottom dollar that an edict will be issued and the police will actually start to do something.

According to stories this week hundreds of Thais have been arrested and locals and foreigners have been rounded up for running online betting syndicates. A group of Koreans were using Thailand as a base for operations. A Frenchman was even reported to have made a dash back to Thailand with no stamp in his passport after owning money to lenders at a casino in Cambodia. You would have thought he could have just stayed here to bet.

Authorities have said that betting in Thailand on the Euro 2016 tournament that began in France on Friday could run into 50 billion baht. Whatever arrests are made will represent only a fraction of the business.

Lip service will be paid while purporting to be in the public good to protect youth from the terrors of gambling. But when the Euros are over everything will go back to normal. But it is a huge “normal” business that benefits just a select few who want to keep it that way.

Thais – like most Asian communities – are massive gamblers especially on football. But many casinos exist with the connivance of police and politicians who are reported to own many of them. No wonder when you consider the money involved.

Legal opportunities to bet are very limited and basically revolve around two options. One is horse racing at two Bangkok tracks (and perhaps a few up country organized by prominent and protected individuals). The other is the national lottery.

The latter is used for a huge underground business of betting on two, three and four numbers at the end of winning tickets from the official results. These numbers are often sourced from monks, temples, barks of Bo trees, number plates….anything that takes the local fancy. Money invested in the underground lottery compared to the legal lottery is likely to be much higher.

Full story: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/lifestyle/gambling-thailand-going-benefit-national-addiction/

-- Inspire Pattaya 2016-06-19

[eddie61]

Have you heard of this new-fangled thang called the Internet?

Dang, you can bet your bottom Dollar it sure is gonna change the bettin' man's life!!!!

[Time Traveller]

Gambling is a tax on stupidity. I say go for it, but just don't complain that there are even greater inequalities in society as a result.

Edited June 19, 2016 by Time Traveller

[williamgeorgeallen]

the word is that gambling will be legalized when a certain important figure head in thailand is no longer around to appose it. it is my understanding that the ambassador city hotel was built to be a gaming facility some years ago but they never got the gaming licences. some one told me that loyde williams a prominent casino owner in australia is a part owner of the massive hotel. i used to work at crown casino in melborne. ambasador is in many ways a similar set up with one low rise building that would make a great gaming floor. the high rise is similar to the crown hotel which has high roller rooms on the 29th floor. i treid to research mr williams involvement in the ambassador without finding anything. 6 years working at the casino and i was saddened by the effects of gambling on the general public.

[FrankGers]

Gambling is a tax on stupidity. I say go for it, but just don't complain that there are even greater inequalities in society as a result.

I hear you. I was offshore in Kazakhstan a few years ago. I didn't have much to do most days as we were in harbour. SO, 12 hours in the office with not much going on i decided to open up an online betting account with Bet365......

I have never been a gambler, the only time i have is when i was told that certain races (usually the dogs) were fixed and X dog in trap 4 was going to win

When i started to bet on Hungarian 3rd division football matches i knew it was time to stop.....and i did. I probably broke even over the peace, but, i knew where i was heading and nipped it in the bud quickly.

[wombat]

when the one in the shadows gets sworn in ?

[blackcab]

I have never been a gambler, the only time i have is when i was told that certain races (usually the dogs) were fixed and X dog in trap 4 was going to win

That's not gambling.

[FrankGers]

I have never been a gambler, the only time i have is when i was told that certain races (usually the dogs) were fixed and X dog in trap 4 was going to win

That's not gambling.

I was using it to highlight how little i know about gambling. I know it's cheating. But made me a few quid so i wasn't complaining

[wotaplonker]

its bizarre there are no legal casinos, just imagine large classy hotel/casinos on the sea fronts, in Pattaya, Phuket, etc they would make

a fortune for the thai economy from gaming tourists, the sun, sea, food and 'other' entertainment would attract millions of visitors,

give us our roulette !!

[gandalf12]

Have you heard of this new-fangled thang called the Internet?

Dang, you can bet your bottom Dollar it sure is gonna change the bettin' man's life!!!!

The new fangled internet will never catch on, you mark my words

[CHRISTIANa9]

its bizarre there are no legal casinos, just imagine large classy hotel/casinos on the sea fronts, in Pattaya, Phuket, etc they would make

a fortune for the thai economy from gaming tourists, the sun, sea, food and 'other' entertainment would attract millions of visitors,

give us our roulette !!

Its not bizarre, question is whose going to own it? Everyone wants it

[sanukjim]

Ina way Thailand already benefits from Gambling.The BIB collect millions os baht from the 5 known major gambling areas in Bangkok alone.There are areas in Bangkok that are several blocks square that a frange will never see.Every 5 or 6 years one will get busted that has not paid there dues.That is why sending a major officer to a "non active post" is concidered punishment as his monthly "share" will be drastically reduced..

[seedy]

Post discussing Moderation removed

[4evermaat]

......6 years working at the casino and i was saddened by the effects of gambling on the general public.

What was so bad about [legal] gambling?

[williamgeorgeallen]

......6 years working at the casino and i was saddened by the effects of gambling on the general public.

What was so bad about [legal] gambling?

i saw alot of sad situations. pensioners shoveling their money into slot machines, casino was busy the day after retirees got their pensions. worst one was an older aussie guy going crazy at one of the blackjack tables. i asked him what was wrong and he said his wife (who was asian) had gambled away everything he owned. he ran out of the casino and jumped into the river to kill himself. we fished him out before he drowned. this was just one situation, i saw many more. gambling is like a drug and asians seem to get hooked worse than westerners from what i have seen. on the flip side it would be a great thing to revive the ailing tourism industry (only 30 million arrivals last year) sure some casinos would help relieve the Chinese of their hard earned money.

[prestburypark]

I bet it will never happen.

[GAZZPA]

its bizarre there are no legal casinos, just imagine large classy hotel/casinos on the sea fronts, in Pattaya, Phuket, etc they would make

a fortune for the thai economy from gaming tourists, the sun, sea, food and 'other' entertainment would attract millions of visitors,

give us our roulette !!

It's a really interesting point, just look at Macau (ok struggled a bit with the economic woes but still)

There are 3 casinos back in my home town in the UK, I personally don't really gamble but I have been with some friends who do. I noticed that the vast majority of people at the tables throwing the money around are from Asia.

Not sure why that is, don't know why Asians love gambling so much. Might be a culture thing, or perhaps the restrictions at home make it a rebellious thing when abroad.

I agree with the post though, don't see why they don't legalise it, control it and benefit the local economy, after all it's not going to stop.

[wotaplonker]

its bizarre there are no legal casinos, just imagine large classy hotel/casinos on the sea fronts, in Pattaya, Phuket, etc they would make

a fortune for the thai economy from gaming tourists, the sun, sea, food and 'other' entertainment would attract millions of visitors,

give us our roulette !!

Its not bizarre, question is whose going to own it? Everyone wants it

hotel chain owners from anywhere the thai govt care to invite or simply do it themselves with thai/chinese businessmen, the government would get tax revenues,

a license to print money, hotels for example on or near pattaya bay,jomtien, hua hin, phuket etc could convert what was a floor or two of rooms to

gaming parlours, in fact this way new hotels would not need to be built, just imagine the numbers of chinese alone that would be attracted to them instead of ladyboy shows! many tourists would come from the USA, Australia etc,bearing gold for the thai economy

cheers

roulette, black jack poker please