PHUKET: Maverick politician and former naughty massage king Chuwit Kamolvisit has added to his accusations against Phuket’s Tiger Group and local police, teasing media in the capital by saying that he has video footage of a casino on the island, and laying out the structure of police protection.

 

Wednesday 4 April 2012, 11:45AM

• Published: 18/03/2012 at 03:35 AM
• Newspaper section: News

A senior Thai diplomat in the western Laos city of Savannakhet has raised concerns about Thais who cross the second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge from Thailand's Mukdahan to "get lucky" gambling at a casino there.

Russ Jalichandra, the Thai consul-general to Savannakhet, said he wants the Thai government to implement effective measures to prevent Thai people from crossing the bridge to enter the Laos casino.

Mr Russ raised the concerns after at least three Thai gamblers who lost their money at the casino were arrested on charges of stealing cars, petty crimes and overstaying in Laos because they had no money left to return home to Thailand.

• Published: 28/01/2012 at 02:10 PM
• Online news:BangkokPost

A large casino will open in the heart of Bangkok on Thursday and Friday of this week, according to MP Chuwit Kamolvisit.

Mr Chuwit said he had obtained information that the casino was ready to go into full operation with more than 50 gambling tables as well as horse-race betting facilities and slot machines already in place.

The casino was intended to replace one in the Ratchadaphisek area which had been closed recently.  It is located in a soi in which an embassy and a golf driving range are situated, he said yesterday at a press conference at the offices of his Rak Prathet Thai party in Soi Sukhumvit 10.

• Published: 22/01/2012 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: News Bangkok Post
  

Bangkok police yesterday took a gamble on finding an illegal casino featuring topless hostesses in Sai Mai district but ended up with a losing hand.

A team led by Deputy Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Saroj Promcharoen raided a commercial building believed to be the venue for the den but found nothing.

Information indicated the building might house the den in which topless girls waited at gaming tables to attract punters. Photographs of the girls were widely circulated on the internet last week.

Casino revenue is set for such "dramatic growth" in Asia that the region will surpass the US as a gambling destination by 2013, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report yesterday.

Revenue from casino gaming in the region totalled US$34.3 billion last year but it should hit US$79.3 billion by 2015, driven by growth of around 18.3 per cent a year.

Spending on gaming in the United States will rise just 5 per cent a year, lifting revenue from US$57.5 billion last year to US$73.3 billion in 2015.