Police monitoring 300 betting websites ahead of FIFA World Cup 2018

BANGKOK, June 12 (TNA) -- The Metropolitan Police Department has announced that it was keeping an eye on 300 local online betting websites during FIFA World Cup 2018 which will begin on June 14. Pol Maj Gen Panurat Lakboon, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Department in his capacity as the head of the Football Betting Suppression Centre stated that they will adopting a two pronged approach to tackle football betting during World Cup 2018 from June 14 to July 15. The first of these measures involves coordinating with the Department of General Education to organise joint campaigns and visits to educational institutions to promote betting awareness and deter youths from interacting in football gambling. Schools will also be asked to coordinate with parents to look after their children and to make sure that they understand that they will be held directly responsible for the conduct of their children. Parents must be made aware that they can be punished under the Children Protection Act if their negligence leads to bad behaviour. Secondly, special task force units have been formed to police online betting. At present, they are monitoring more than 300 online betting websites. A new development in online football betting is the use of models to to lure gamblers on social media which is a direct violation of the Gambling Act. Police confirmed that they will be summoning a first 10 of these ladies for questioning next week. Owners of entertainment venues have not been excluded either as any gambling or betting discovered in any of their establishments will result in a five year closure. (TNA)