Thai Betting on Euro 2008 Prompts over 1,000 Arrests

Police in Thailand have revealed Thai residents wagered over $15 million on the 2008 UEFA European Football Championships, a paltry sum when set against research that predicted Thailanders would spend nearly $1.2 billion betting on the tournament.

According to The Nation, a Bangkok daily, the Royal Thai Police have arrested 1,098 people, but have seized only $28,000 in cash. In all, 192 bookmakers, 831 bettors and 75 others were detained.

Maj. Gen. Ruangsak Jaritek, a spokesman for the police, was quoted by the paper as saying the quantity of arrests was higher than during any other football tournament.

"We are satisfied with our arrests although we cannot arrest everybody," he said. "We focus on preventative measures."

The tournament began June 7 and ended Sunday on a 1-0 defeat by Spain over Germany.

According to a study of 2,600 participants undertaken by the Kasikorn Research Center in Bangkok, a worsening economic climate in Thailand was not likely to have any bearing on betting behavior.

In a research note published on June 5, 2008, the center said Euro 2008 wagering would total $1.2 billion, exceeding the $987 million wagered on Euro 2004 by nearly 22 percent.

The note said bettors were likely to face debts once the tournament concluded, as respondents reported 67.5 percent of stake money was borrowed. By contrast, only 27 percent of bet money was comprised of cash, while 5.5 percent was "extra earnings."

Maj. Gen. Ruangsak urged gamblers with debts to turn themselves in, as many, he said, receive threats from bookmakers.

"Football gambling is not a serious offense," he said. "Please come to the police. It's better than facing a threat to your lives."

The center revealed moreover that compared to a study undertaken ahead of Euro 2004, more gamblers are using bookmakers to lay bets rather than friends.

"This indicates that gambling via 'bookies' is tending to become more widespread among Thai gamblers," the note said. "Venues where bookies accept football bets are typically located within residential communities, educational institutions and local environs, so access to football gambling now has been made easier."

Unlike land-based bookmakers, the center made no mention of Internet betting as a perceived social problem. As of 2007, Thailand had an Internet penetration rate of 12.6 percent, up 240 percent against 3.7 percent in 2000, according to the International Telecommunication Union.

Police, meanwhile, have established a task force to monitor gambling criminals nationwide.

According to India's Economic Times, under Thailand's 73-year-old gambling law, The Gambling Act, bettors can be fined $30 or jailed for up to a year.

"All in all, gambling in Thailand is illegal and tourists are warned not to be involved in it," suggested Premprecha Dibbayawan, a lawyer with Kamthorn Surachet & Somsak in Bangkok, in a column for tourists in the Pattaya Mail. "Simply playing cards with friends you may end up spending a night or two at the police station, going to court the next working day and being sent out of the country."

It is understood, however, that Thai residents circumvent the ban by gambling in casinos in neighboring Myanmar and Cambodia, where casinos are located near the borders.

Furthermore, according to Macau's Statistics and Census Service, between January and May of 2008, over 105,000 Thai residents have visited the Far East's gambling mecca, up 81 percent over the same period in 2007.

The Economic Times said Samak Sundaravej, prime minister of Thailand since January 2008, introduced proposals to build five casinos in the tourist hubs of Phuket, Pattaya, Khon Kaen, Hat Yai and Chiang Mai. The move, though, has stalled on pressure from social conservatives.