When voters recently elected a crude, joke-cracking, former massage
parlor tycoon to parliament, no one expected him to immediately unleash a
video sting against Thailand’s biggest illegal casino, and topple the
country’s chief of police, plus the military-installed head of the
National Security Council.
“I have been removed for a reason which has nothing to do with my ability or my shortcomings,” Thawil Pliensri, the ousted National Security Council secretary-general, said on September 7.
All the chaos and drama is thanks to the wise guy tactics of Chuvit
Kamolvisit, who has even upset the U.S. State Department. The American
Embassy refused to issue Mr. Chuvit a visa to meet his two daughters and
former wife in San Diego, California, because he previously owned
several huge Bangkok massage parlors packed with sex workers and openly
admitted to bribing police, he said. Now, instead of bribing cops, he is
using his new seat in parliament to expose police who allegedly profit
from lavish, illegal gambling dens equipped with baccarat tables,
roulette wheels, card games and other betting games.
Most gambling is illegal in this Buddhist-majority country, though
lotteries are permitted. Mr. Chuvit, who boasts of being a hedonist,
favors legalizing gambling and heads a tiny, four-man opposition Rak
Thailand (“Love Thailand”) party, which he uses as a personal soapbox.
After winning a July election, he stunned parliament in August by
displaying an elaborate video sting he arranged which allegedly showed
Thailand’s biggest illegal casino was protected by police. There are
more than 170 illegal gambling dens of various sizes in Bangkok,
winning a total of up to $6 billion each year — with five to 20 percent
of the profits allegedly paid to bribe police ($300m to $1.2b) –
according to Rajabhat University’s Good Governance program.