Big casino raided, hundreds arrested
published : 20 Mar 2024 at 11:54
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassayos Ngamkham
A 100-strong team of provincial officials raided a large casino in Nonthaburi late Tuesday night, arrested about 300 gamblers and seized around 60 million baht in cash and betting chips.
The gambling den was operating in premises behind a tall steel fence around one-rai of land in Phra Pin 3 housing estate in tambon Bang Mae Nang. The fence hid it from view.
The casino included air-conditioned and VIP zones. It was being expanded and about 60 surveillance cameras were installed.
The officials seized gambling chips worth about 50 million baht from the tables and 10 million baht in cash found in a wall safe.
Officials said they had received complaints from people who said the casino had opened late last year. There were three-door entranceways with locks, and many exits through which gamblers could flee. During the raid, officials had surrounded the place and blocked all exits.
Officials arrested about 300 gamblers, casino employees and the Thai operator. They also found records showing more than 100 million baht in bets being handled each day.
Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul also made an appearance during the raid. He said the casino was clearly intended to be permanent. He would find out if it operated because local officials turned a blind eye to it.
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Vocabulary
- bet: to risk money on a race or an event by trying to predict the result - พนัน
- casino: a building where gambling games, especially roulette and card games are played for money - บ่อนการพนัน
- chip: a small flat piece of plastic used to represent a particular amount of money in some types of gambling -
- complaint: when someone says that something is wrong or not satisfactory - การบ่น, ข้อที่ไม่พอใจ
- fence: a structure made of wood or wire supported with posts that is put between two areas of land as a boundary, or around a garden/yard, field, etc. to keep animals in, or to keep people and animals out - รั้ว
- flee: to leave a place or person quickly because you are afraid of possible danger - หนี อพยพ
- hid (verb): (past form of "hide") to cover something so that it cannot be seen; to keep something secret - ซ่อน, ซุกซ่อน, ปกปิด
- permanent: happening or existing for a long time or for all time in the future - ถาวร
- premises: the buildings and land that a business or organisation uses - ที่ดินและสิ่งปลูกสร้าง
- safe: a strong metal box or cupboard with a complicated lock, used for storing valuable things in, for example, money or jewellery - ตู้นิรภัย, ตู้เซฟ
- seize: to take something using official power and force - จับกุม
- surveillance camera: a camera kept in a place to record what happens there, especially criminal activity - กล้องวงจรปิดเพื่อรักษาการความปลอดภัย
- turned a blind eye to (idiom): failed to pay attention to; to pretend that you have not noticed or do not know about something - เพิกเฉย
