Gambling in Myanmar!

Yesterday a friend of mine and I went to Tachilek Myanmar to check out some shopping and a casino!



As you can see our attempts to document this visit on video was hindered by the hotel's security. Later on in the day, by coincidence, I was perusing the Bangkok Post newspaper's web-site to come across this article on gambling in Thailand.

In case the link is disabled, here is the text from the the last story in the article:

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-Follow the money-

Kiatchai: Owns Burmese casino

Politics and casinos are sometimes inseparable.

Every now and then the issue of the legalisation of casinos comes up, as certain political leaders are strongly behind the plan.

The latest leader to raise the point is Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who is pushing for legal gambling venues to be allowed in five major tourist destinations: Pattaya, Phuket, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai and Hat Yai.

Unsurprisingly, the idea has drawn loud choruses of both praise and criticism.

Like it or not, casinos have sprouted up along our borders with Cambodia, Burma and Laos - and they're doing a roaring trade.

It is also well known that many politicians are involved in the running and setting up of these "foreign" casinos.

Money from these gambling dens supply the Thai politicians who own them directly or via nominees with regular flowing cash.

Money from these casinos act as a major financial source during local and national elections.

One of them is former Udon Thani MP Kiatchai Chaichaowarat, who turned his back on politics after his Thai Rak Thai party was disbanded.

His casino is located in the Burmese border town of Tachilek, opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district, and in the Golden Triangle near Chiang Saen.

A brother of a key politician of the Chart Thai Party is also linked to a casino on the Burmese side of the Golden Triangle. It is believed he holds a major stake in the place.

A veteran politician now in the senior ranks of Puea Pandin is also said to own at least two casinos in the border town of Poipet in Cambodia, opposite Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district.

Current cabinet members have frequently been spotted in casinos they partially own in Burma and Cambodia, particularly so when they were politically unemployed after the 2006 coup.

"The gambling amount is as high as hundreds of millions of baht.

"But the money is not to be seen, it's just written figures," one source said when trying to explain how these games between politicians and businessmen work.

Repayments were apparently made during the December 23 elections.

"Some politicians took their families back and forth to manage casinos in neighbouring countries, amassing wealth during the political break," said the source.

Casino earnings were recently used in a ploy to attack political opponents, said the source.

"Some Thai politicians joined hands with the military, bringing in casino money from the border, pretending it was money for vote-buying during the Dec 23 elections.

They set up arrests, making false accusations against their political opponents in order to discredit them," the source said.

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So the casino we visited is owned by a major Thai politician. I wonder if not being able to film had something to do with that?

At this time, the new Thai government is seriously considering the legalization of gambling. Which makes sense since since Thais go outside of the country to gamble. They also gamble online and in illegal gambling dens. Let's face it, Thais and Asians in general love to gamble...modern life in general is a gamble.

If you would like further information about the casino in Myanmar, you can obtain more information from their very nice web-site.

Next time, let me shoot a decent video!!