Thais busted for gambling sent home

More than 170 Thais caught in Cambodia for running an illegal online gambling website were released and returned to Thailand via Sa Kaeo province yesterday.

The Thai nationals were handed over by Cambodian authorities at the Khlong Luek checkpoint in Aranyaprathet district after two rounds of successful negotiations led by Sa Kaeo governor Worapan Suwannut.

Their release was unconditional, according to a source in the Immigration Bureau (IB).

The Thai nationals, who were caught running an illegal online gambling website, were taken to a Cambodian immigration office for detention on Wednesday in Siem Reap, a resort town in northwestern Cambodia about 170km from the Thai-Cambodian border, according to a source.

Two teams of senior officials had travelled separately to City Hall in Poipet where they held negotiations with Cambodian authorities. The first team was led by Sa Kaeo deputy governor Natthachai Nampoolsuksan while the second by provincial governor Worapan Suwannut.

It was unclear whether the Cambodian authorities had charged the Thai nationals.

Before their release, Pol Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang, the IB commissioner, said the bureau was checking if the Thais had obtained a legal work permit in Cambodia.

The IB chief added that the bureau had asked the Cambodians to repatriate the Thais after they were finished questioning and detaining them.

Pol Lt Gen Sompong had earlier said that the Cambodian authorities had responded to the request and that the reply had been “positive”.