PM to act on dens, smugglers

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has vowed swift action to root out gambling dens and migrant labour trafficking that has been blamed for the new wave of Covid-19 infections.

The premier, speaking via a podcast yesterday, said it was high time the long standing problems of gambling dens and illegal migrant labour were dealt with swiftly. He did not elaborate.

“We need to get rid of the bad eggs and unscrupulous state officials. The government will be right behind the efforts to root them out,” he said.

Transmission of the virus was traced in many cases to people who attended gambling dens which operated on local police’s watch. State officials were also reported to have been involved in smuggling illegal migrants into the country, with no health screening programmes or quarantine.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said there will be updates in a few days on a panel being set up by Gen Prayut to investigate gambling dens.

The panel’s chair will be selected by the government, he said. The panel will have no authority to arrest or transfer anyone, said Mr Wissanu.

Those who the panel finds guilty will face criminal charges in line with the Communicable Disease Act, the Emergency Decree, the Working of Alien Act, the Immigration Act and human trafficking laws, according to Mr Wissanu.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said the government has already done everything in its power to address the problem of gambling dens.

Yesterday, Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Phukphong Phongpetra said baccarat tables, believed to belong to an underground casino, had fallen off a vehicle in Lat Krabang while being taken to a warehouse in Min Buri.

Police are currently finding out where the tables came from.