June 22, 2005
BANGKOK (AFP) - Helicopter-borne police commandos Wednesday raided a huge illegal casino in Bangkok, arresting 353 gamblers and seizing more than 2.5 million dollars in chips in one of the largest-ever Thai casino busts.
The military-style pre-dawn raid involved heavily armed commandos dropping from helicopters onto shophouses in Bangkok's Taopoon district near downtown. It was the second attempt to bust the well-protected casino after a failed attempt a few years ago.
"The raid and the casino itself were the largest I have ever seen in my career," Major Nipoj Veerasunthorn, deputy commissioner of the Crime Investigation Bureau, told reporters.
Casinos are illegal in Thailand but underground gambling dens have flourished for years, particularly in Bangkok.
Police would have had to battle through several layers of protection on the ground if they had raided the casino without the use of helicopter support, said Major General Vinai Thongsong, commander of crime suppression police.
"They had six well-protected gates and six secret exits, so it would have taken more than an hour to access it by ordinary means," Vinai said.
The facility, in two adjoining shophouses comprising 0.59 acres (0.24 hectares), provided punters with full service tables for roulette, baccarat and craps as well as standard casino card games and slot machines, police said.
All 353 people detained in the operation would be prosecuted on gambling charges and face three years in prison and fines up to 20,000 baht (500 dollars) if convicted, he said.
With casinos illegal in the kingdom, an estimated 500,000 keen Thai gamblers instead flock annually to ones set up just across its borders with Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.