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Published on Mar 29, 2002 The Nation

WORLD CUP GAMBLING: Students to be watched, searched

Any students wanting to get a bet on this year's World Cup soccer tournament will have to be careful as the Education Ministry is planning to set up an intensive surveillance net made up of parents and teachers to prevent gambling among young fans.

The ministry will formally ask parents and teachers of schools and colleges under its control to keep a check on students' cash spending, use of credit cards, the Internet, home and mobile phones, and outside activities during the tournament, said ministry spokesman Voravut Pummakanchana.

Students will also be instructed to keep a watch among themselves for any possible gambling on the World Cup 2002 tournament, which begins on May 31, he said.

"And if any teachers are found involved in the gambling themselves, they will face harsh disciplinary action," Voravut said.

Ministry officials have proposed the provisional surveillance net to Education Minister Suwit Khunkitti and asked him to sign a ministerial regulation to enforce it, Voravut said.

In another precaution against World Cup gambling, teachers at all 111 vocational colleges in 19 northeastern provinces will search their students' bags regularly for odds-sheets, said the president of the Association of Northeastern Vocational Colleges, Thavorn Chupwa.

"If any students are arrested for soccer gambling, we will expel them and let them face legal prosecution", he said.

Director of the Education Ministry's Student Patrol Division, Nikhom Jarumanee, yesterday cited police records as showing that about 30 soccer bookmakers were arrested in different areas across Bangkok during recent European tournaments and many of their customers were found to be students.

Nikhom said the illicit football gambling business was worth some Bt2 billion, and most student customers, who were chiefly in high school and college, made bets of between Bt1,000-Bt10,000 at a time.

The division and police had set up a joint task force to suppress gambling among students during world-class soccer tournaments in the past and will likely do so again during this World Cup, Nikhom said.

To promote the pure athletic spirit of soccer, the Physical Education Department will today hold a workshop for 2,000 physical-education teachers at the National Stadium to train them how to teach students to enjoy watching soccer matches without gambling

A student in Kalasin province, however, said gambling added extra excitement to soccer matches as long as the stakes were not so big as to possibly ruin the student fans financially.

"Just a small bet over a meal or a drink is fine as long as you can control the urge to win big," said the student, who asked not to be named.

In a related development, officials in Phitsanulok province agreed to form a joint working group to suppress gambling during the World Cup with an emphasis on juvenile customers.