On Tuesday, 23 August 2011, one of Thailand’s outspoken politicians, Chuwit (Chuvit) Kamolvisi played a video supposedly of a gambling den located in the heart of Bangkok.

He was trying to make a point during a policy debate that the current Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, didn’t have an anti-corruption policy. And, everyone knows that illegal gambling requires corrupt police in order to operate.

Chuwit Kamolvisi Gambling Corruption

Most thought that this was just Chuwit’s way of getting attention and disrupting the policy debate with his gambling video.  But, there were some that took the accusations seriously but most just thought it was a bit of grandstanding.

The Thai Police immediately came out with a denial saying there are no gambling dens in Bangkok (surprise surprise):

City police spokesman Pol MajGeneral Piya Uthayo said police had checked all Bangkok precincts but did not find any active gambling dens.

I am sure that you can ask any taxi driver in Bangkok and he can drive you straight to any gambling den in the city.

But, I guess that Khun Chuwit persisted, and a raid of the gambling den that he showed to his fellow politicians in this video was raided.

And, you will never guess who is running the illegal gambling hall.  The Thai Police!

From Top cops transferred in casino scandal in the Bangkok Post:

Six high-ranking police officers have been transferred to inactive posts pending investigation of Rak Thailand party-list MP Chuvit Kamolvisit’s claim in parliament that police operate a major casino in the heart of Bangkok.

I think they should be suspended without pay during the investigation, but transferring a cop or politician seems to be the way of dealing with crooks in Thailand.

Pol Maj-Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapat, Metropolitan Police Division 2 commander, Pol Col Paisal Wongwacharamongkol, chief of Suthisarn police, were transferred, along with four other senior officers at Suthisarn police station, police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said on Thursday afternoon.

The other officers are two deputy Suthisarn police chiefs, the chief suppression officer and chief investigation officer.

These are not some lowly beat cops.  These are the big boys and it looks like they didn’t take Khun Chuwit seriously when he showed his gambling video to Parliament.

Remember now, that Khun Chuwit is better known for being the massage parlor king in Bangkok and knows all too well about where all the underground gambling places in Bangkok are.  He also knows the ins and outs of paying off the Thai Police.

National police chief Wichean Potphosree today set up a video conference with regional police headquarters throughout the country and ordered them to take strict legal action against illegal casinos and other games outlets.

I wonder if this will result in further gambling  raids or if it is just talk to appease the masses.  Hopefully, in Pattaya, they will be able to find a bigger gambling bust than catching 4 people playing cards and confiscating 20 baht.

Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) secretary-general Ampol Wongsiri on Thursday confirmed MP Chuvit’s claim that senior police officers own a big illegal casino in the capital.

Mr Ampol said his staff had found the casino on Ratchadaphisek 18 Road.

He said it was the same gambling den that the Rak Thailand Party leader exposed in parliament on Tuesday. It was overseen by local police and allowed in only high-stakes gamblers.

I guess Khun Ampol has better sources than the Metropolitan Police Commissioner or maybe he just hailed a taxi to find this gambling den.

He also confirmed Mr Chuvit’s remark that illegal drugs were available in toilets of almost all entertainment venues.

In the above video, Khun Chuwit also showed some drug deals going down in public restrooms.  Could this be the start of another drug war?

Mr Ampol said he questioned Bangkok police chief Pol Lt Gen Jakthip Chaijinda’s insistence that Bangkok is free of casinos. He said taxi drivers could comfortably take gamblers to their favourite casinos in Bangkok.

Reminds me of once when a high ranking politician was asked what he was going to do about prostitution in Thailand and he simply said “There is no prostitution in Thailand.  It is illegal.”

There was also an order to close illegal casinos in Bangkok prior to the July 3 general election, intended to force Thai gamblers to visit Thai politicians’ casinos in neighbouring countries. Those politicians used their profits to fund their election campaigns, the source said.

This is the first I have heard of this.  I didn’t know that Thai politicians owned casinos in either Laos, Cambodia or Burma.  I wonder if this will be further investigated.  This could be the reason that whenever a recommendation to build a casino in Thailand is presented for a vote, it gets shot down.

It will be interesting to see what eventually happens to the cops that got busted (probably just a transfer) and to see if the war on gambling and drugs continues.

Tags: casino chuwit corruption gambling shinawatra thai police yingluck