Cambodia’s newest casino is causing a political firestorm in neighboring Thailand, prompting the head of Thailand’s National Parks Department to intervene. Recently, Thai nationalist Veera Somkwamkid alerted his roughly 35k Facebook followers about a casino being built near a checkpoint on the Cambodia-Thailand border. Veera claimed the unnamed casino straddled Ta Phraya National Park in Thailand’s Buriram province, a protected area which features some ancient Khmer temple ruins.

The Nation reported that Veera was arrested a week ago for violating the Computer Crime Act, an action that Veera blamed on an earlier post in which he alleged that former Thai politician Newin Chidchob, who remains influential in Buriram province, was involved in the casino’s development.

Newin, who is chairman of the Buriram United Football Club, filed a complaint with the police following Veera’s original post, and Veera’s subsequent posts on the subject omitted Newin’s name, instead making veiled references to Cambodian political aides.

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