Acting on a tipoff, a raid by the Department of Civil Society Network Coordination Center, Chiang Mai and Chiang Mai Provincial District 5 police have uncovered a bizarre “zodiac” gambling operation in Chang Mai.
The raid itself targeted a premise in the New Market – Kad Muang Mai near the Ping River this morning, June 4.
The gambling game, described by Thai language media as “zodiac game” is described as operating like a lottery but may be better described as a pot-luck game complete with actual pots.
Those gambling bet on zodiac-signs or animals with pots held in baskets and bird cages each holding a symbol relative to the bet. A basket or cage with a certain number of pots would be lowered with a pot selected. If the pot selected matched the bet, the gambler would win while those betting on non-winning choices would lose their money.
It’s not clear how individual pots were selected but the selection of pots took place 12 times a day at scheduled times lottery-style.
Those playing the game are said to have been traders in the market as well as laborers carrying goods.
The operation wasn’t small either with hundreds of thousands of baht passing through it each day.
It’s not clear how many people were arrested but at least three people, described as bookmakers for the gambling operation, were detained at the scene.
