Bangkok Cracking Down on Slot Machines

According to the Office for the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in the State Sector, police are going to start cracking down on slot machines like they never have before. They are going to make sure that there are no illegal slot machines and have been given two weeks to ensure that they are all gone.

The police are going to make sure that there are no slot machines set up near schools and universities through police bribery or lax law enforcement, and they are starting with it immediately. Their secretary general Tharit Pengdit said that during recent inspections they discovered how wide spread the slot machine problem had become, and that they were going to be in trouble themselves if they did not get rid of them within 15 days. They will have action taken against them for negligence of duty if any are discovered after that time.

They are worried about teenagers spending their parents’ money at the slot machines as there are more than 100 of them surrounding the educational facilities in the city. There have been many complaints sent in to Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga who said that something is going to have to be done about it.

He is especially concerned about the fact that many of them are only there because police officers have been accepting bribes to look the other way. He says that they have been accepting kickbacks to the tune of roughly 3,000 baht a month.