Hotel room turned into mini casino
CHON BURI: Eighty Indian gamblers were among people rounded up by police in a raid on a luxury hotel in Pattaya in the small hours yesterday.
Pol Maj Gen Kampol Leelaprapaporn, the Chon Buri police chief, said the raid occurred about a quarter past midnight at the Asia Pattaya Hotel in Soi Phra Tamnak 4 in tambon Nong Prue, Bang Lamung district.
The raid followed information from detectives that a number of Indian nationals had booked rooms at the hotel from April 27-May 1 and rented a meeting room called Sampao for gambling.
When the police arrived, they found a large number of gamblers playing games of baccarat and blackjack in the Sampao room.
On seeing the police, they tried to flee but were unsuccessful. The police rounded up 93 people — 83 Indians, six Thais and four Myanmar nationals.
Of the 93 arrested, 80 were Indian gamblers, while others were game organisers and staff.
The police seized four baccarat tables, three blackjack tables, 25 sets of cards, 209,215,000 chips, 160,000 Indian rupees (66,900 baht), eight closed-circuit television cameras, 92 mobile phones, three notebook computers, one iPad and three card dealer machines.
A logbook in which gambling credits were recorded, showing about 1,000 million rupees worth of credits in circulation, was also seized. There were also four spots for serving baraku.
Sitranan Kaewlor, 32, who told the police she was in charge of the accommodation and gambling venue, revealed that the Indian tourists were charged 50,000 baht each. The room for gambling was rented for 120,000 baht. It was open from 1pm to 6am.
Hotel staff were not allowed to enter the room.
Ms Sitranan said a Thai man called Pakin was contracted to provide food and cleaning services. All gambling equipment, including the card dealers, were brought from India, she added.
The 93 people arrested, including the 80 Indian gamblers, and items seized in the raid were handed over to Pattaya police investigators for legal proceedings for illegal gambling.