Australian Races Screened by Kiwi in Thailand Cause Police Raid

Added: June 1, 2014

Taking in three separate countries, we have just heard that a New Zealand man, living in Pattaya, Thailand, has been operating an illegal gambling den, by screening online Australian races and running a sports book. This illegal gambling den was recently raided by the police.

It took an eight month investigation, and an undercover informant, to finally nail this illegal gambling den in Pattaya, that had been screening online Australian races, and allow local punters to place bets.

Gambling is illegal in Thailand, and this includes online gambling, so screening Australian races and running a sports book was deemed a major crime. The owner of the bar that was being used as the base for this illegal gambling den escaped, but 6 New Zealander were caught betting on Australian races, and the New Zealander who was running the sports book was also caught by local Pattaya police.

Not only was this Pattaya based illegal gambling den showing Australian races in its premises, but it was also broadcasting them online, so that punters who could not or did not want to come to the premises, could also place bets.

A spokesperson for the New Zealand government, has said that, "We are following up with the Thai authorities in relation to the media reports of a New Zealander arrested in Pattaya, Thailand. The ministry had not yet received any requests for consular assistance."

It is off to think that Australian races being screened live in a bar in Pattaya, Thailand could cause such a fuss, So why was it such a problem? Why did the local police come down so hard on an illegal gambling den? Well, we need to consider that the New Zealander that had been running this illegal gambling establishment, had actually broken several laws, and not those just covering illegal online gambling. Of course, first and foremost it is the online gambling crime that is the major one. But we also need to consider the fact that if they were actually making a profit from screening Australian races, and letting people place bets on them, then they were earning and income, and without a work permit, this would also be breaking the law in Thailand. The Australian races were broadcast live, and also online, so this means there was also possibly some form of copyright violation going on as well, so we can see that many laws were actually broken.