Police have arrested 83 people in a raid on a suspected gambling den hidden in a Thai coconut plantation.
A special operations unit raided the plantation in Ratchaburi Province, where they seized cash and gambling equipment, the Thai media outlet Thairath reported.
Officers said the den was “well-established,” as evidenced by the presence of vendors at the site, “selling food and drinks” to patrons.
Ratchaburi is located near the border with Myanmar. In Southeast Asia, many border areas have become notorious for housing illegal casinos, gambling dens, and voice phishing call centers.
Thai Coconut Farm: Police Raid Kam Thua Ring
Police say the operators allowed gamblers to bet on rounds of kam thua, a popular dice game in which punters try to outscore a banker.
Officers from the Ratchaburi Provincial Internal Security Operations Command and the Photharam Police Station said they planned their raid after following up on a tip-off from a member of the public.
The whistleblower told police a gang of gamblers was meeting in a clearing in the center of a plantation in the Photharam District.
The informant added that the gang had used the area as a gambling den for a long time, meeting at night.
Police followed up with several raids, but did not discover any gambling activities. When they returned to the scene in the evening of May 8, however, officers found “over 100 cars and motorcycles parked in an area near the entrance to a makeshift gambling den.”
Detectives said the suspected gamblers panicked when they saw police approaching. Some “jumped into water-filled irrigation ditches,” they said, and others “ran off into the darkness.”
In video footage from the raid, police can be seen helping several suspects climb out of trenches filled with chest-high water.
Officers eventually apprehended dozens of suspected patrons and gambling den operators. However, they conceded that some of the suspects evaded arrest by “remaining hidden in dark corners of the coconut groves” throughout the night.
Investigators said they seized a plethora of gambling paraphernalia, including a large betting table, betting chips, dice, dice shakers, and notebooks for recording scores.
They also confiscated several vendors’ makeshift food and drink stalls.
A Remote Location
Police took all the arrestees to a multi-purpose building at the Photharam District Office complex for questioning.
None of the suspects immediately confessed to operating the suspected gambling den. Officials said they have responded by charging all suspects with organizing and engaging in illegal gambling for monetary gain.
Detectives said the gang paid rent to a coconut plantation owner. The gang allegedly decided to use this space as their gambling den because it was remote and had only one access point, which involved passing through a large gate.
This allowed lookouts to control the gate from the outside and render the site difficult to access.
Earlier this month, police in Bangkok froze and seized funds in several bank accounts worth over 500 million baht, or $15.3 million.
Officers say the funds belong to a money laundering ring that catered to a notorious online gambling network.
