Raid on Bridge club, 32 foreigners were held by Police in Thailand

A vow by Thailand’s junta to rid the country of foreign criminals has netted an unlikely group of outlaws — elderly bridge players.

Police and military volunteers raided a bridge club on Wednesday in Pattaya, a resort town renowned for its go-go bars and links with organised crime, arresting 32 foreigners, most of them British.

“There were 32 people, all of them foreigners arrested for gambling on Wednesday night,” Colonel Suthat Pumphanmuang, Pattaya police superintendent, said on Thursday, adding the raid was sparked by a member of the public complaining to the junta’s anti-corruption centre. Almost all forms of gambling apart from the lottery and bets on some animal fighting are outlawed in Thailand, though underground betting is rampant.

“The chairman of the bridge club is arguing that they were not gambling (for money),” Suthat said.

He added that all but one of those arrested were freed on a 5,000 baht ($140) bail after 12 hours in custody. The final person was unable to pay bail and remains in jail.