Thailand blocks English gambling websites to stem Euro 2004 betting

BANGKOK June 14 - Thai police Monday ordered local internet providers to block access to England-based betting websites in an effort to stem record gambling expected in the kingdom during the ongoing Euro 2004 football tournament.

``We have asked their cooperation to temporarily block the access to 11 online gambling websites, all of them located in England,'' police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen told AFP.

The blocked sites include Ladbrokes, LiveScore and Sportingbet, he said, with police preparing to extend their investigation to additional sites if needed.

Football betting is illegal in Thailand, but it is a massive underground industry fueled by the country's passion for football and obsession for gambling on anything from kick-boxing to fighting fish.

Respected Thai polling agency Kasikornbank Research Center estimated $814 million would be laid down by punters during the three-week European championships.

Thai police arrested more than 300 bookmakers and punters on Saturday, the first day of the tournament.

The kingdom's crackdown has forced thousands of Thais to flock to neighbouring Cambodia's casinos near the border to place bets on Euro 2004.

Pongsapat said border authorities will be keeping close tabs on returning Thais and scrutinising documents and cash they bring back into the country.

Thailand mulled legalising football betting last November as a means to cash in on and regulate the massive business but no decisions have been made.

web page

Another case of a country with its head in the sand. The police are well known to be protectors of the illegal gambling industry, often running the operations themselves. The casinos in Cambodia are almost all run by government and police officials from Thailand! Typical racket, protect those who are in your pocket and try to block their competition.

Bill, you think the US will ever try such a tactic?

Not really. Unlike Thailand we don't have the level of corruption in gambling as most of it is done out in the open here and the payoff to cops is minimal compared to the widespread nature of it in Thailand. Supposedly most cops live a middle class life there with a lower class salary. You do the math. Not to mention the government has a lot more authoritarian power there, to effectively block a website in the US is a task that few would every imagining undertaking. After all just how many websites are blocked today in this country? Are the Feds really going to block gaming sites in that context? A real longshot.

Good point sir. There is alot worse dirt out there that should be blocked.

I'm planning to quit my current job before winter comes and more and more I'm thinking to leave Finland (at least for a while), Thailand is becoming no.1 choice where I would like to live sometime. Having some friends visited Thailand and one moving in, I have heard nothing but a good things about Thailand.

One problem, actually big one, is that Thailand is blocking gambling web sites.

Question for those who have visited or lived there recently. If you tried to bet, was it able to do somehow?