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Thai Police Prosecute Gamblers to Save Them from Gambling
BANGKOK, THAILAND --
In Thailand, police are distraught over the explosion of popularity of soccer gambling, particularly in relation to the recently completed Euro Cup 2008. Authorities have told media sources that over $15 million was gambled on the soccer tournament.
Law enforcement officers arrested 1098 gamblers and bookies for wagering on the soccer matches, demonstrating their determination to shut down this evil flow of massive revenues. However, the amount of cash confiscated in these arrests was not in the millions of dollars, but rather $28,227. That comes to just over $25 per detainee.
Royal Thai Police Major General Ruangsak Jaritek explained the difference in sums by stating, "Gamblers can now put their bets online."
Police defended their need to arrest gamblers by saying that soccer gambling could lead to extortion, even citing an example of bookies showing up at a school to threaten a student to pay up or else. The police then asked that gamblers who were threatened come forward, claiming that being charged with gambling was better than being murdered.
Obviously, if authorities wished to protect gamblers from gangsters, they would not arrest them. Furthermore, to detain over a thousand suspects for what amounts to a friendly bet doesn't demonstrate a desire to help the populace.
Perhaps if Thai police concentrated their arrests on extortion and monetary crimes like laundering and tax evasion, they would find themselves prosecuting organized crime rather than schoolboys. Until then, their logic concerning gambling is certainly lost in translation.
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