Thai police raid bridge club and arrest elderly players

Thai police raided a bridge club in the Thai resort town of Pattaya. Twelve foreigners were among those arrested in the anti-gambling raid. Among the arrested group were Irish, British, Swedish, Australian and Norwegian citizens. According to Pattaya One, an 84-year-old Dutch woman was also among those held in the police raid.

A member of the public tipped-off the police, who is currently on a mission to crackdown on gambling. Gambling on card games is illegal in Thailand. The players claimed that they were playing for points and did not play for money. Despite the mostly elderly ex-pats contesting their innocence, police drew on the Playing Cards Act of 1935, which prohibits the possession of more than 120 cards at one time. Furthermore, the cards used in the games were lacking the official customs excising marking required by Thai law.

Footage taken at the scene shows elderly ex-pats being arrested. All were released after several hours, and after paying a fee of 5,000 Baht (€125).