Gamblers flock to Cambodia after Bangkok crackdown

SA KAEW: -- A recent crackdown on gambling dens in Bangkok's district of Tao Poon has sent Thai gamblers flocking over the Cambodian border to casinos in the border town of Poi Pet, with 4,000 people expected to cross over into the town this weekend.

According to local reports from the Klong Luek Checkpoint in Aranya Prathet district of the country's eastern Sa Kaew Province, a 100 metre-long queue had already formed at the checkpoint this morning, as hundreds of gamblers waited to have their passports checked.

Pol. Lt. Col. Benchaphol Rotsawat, an immigration police officer based in Aranya Prathet, attributed the rise in gamblers to the recent crackdown on gambling dens in Tao Poon and elsewhere in Bangkok, and forecast that at least 4,000-5,000 Thai gamblers would visit one of Poi Pet's nine casinos over the next two days.

One Thai gambler who spoke to TNA reporters this morning said that she had previously gambled in three Bangkok dens, but that now they had been closed down, she had to make the trip to Poi Pet.

Although Poi Pet is a considerable distance from Bangkok, it is just about possible to make the journey in a day trip.(

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