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May
Illegall
World Cup Gambling : Thailand Frowns on Betting
Electric New Paper - Singapore - May 24, 2006
THAILAND is going all out to stamp out illegal World Cup betting.
Bangkok police put the city's bookies on notice yesterday, announcing
they have set up some 100 special units to crack down on football
gambling during the World Cup finals.
Thais are notoriously avid gamblers who bet on everything from
kickboxing to cock fighting, but football betting is illegal despite
its enormous popularity.
'These special units will boost the existing police work to effectively
crack down on football gambling by focusing on bookies,' the city's
police chief Viroj Chantharangsi said.
He also warned that police would be punished if they failed to
arrest gamblers.
During the three-week Euro 2004 championships, a polling agency
estimated $814 million ($1.3b) were laid down in Thailand, despite
the arrest of hundreds of bookies on the tournament's first day.
Thailand will also ban 'live' broadcasts of World Cup games in
prisons in a bid to prevent football gambling among inmates.
But prisoners would be permitted to watch pre-recorded games of
the 64-match tournament, which kicks off in Germany next month,
Thai Corrections Department spokeswoman Athicha Kiewzen said.
'They will be allowed to watch tape-recorded tournaments so that
they already know the results and they cannot bet,' she said.
The announcement follows reports in Brazil's media this week that
recent prison riots were due to inmates' demands that they be allowed
to watch the Football World Cup matches.
Source Code: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg |
