Yes friends, a small group of Pattaya bar girls were arrested this week when their bar [...]]]> Well guys, you can rest easy tonight. Pattaya police have cleared the streets of illegal gamblers at beer bars in South Pattaya and it’s safe to go out again. Whew! They had me worried there for a while.

Yes friends, a small group of Pattaya bar girls were arrested this week when their bar was raided during a rousing game of dominoes. The devil was in the dominoes.

Apparently, the girls had been sitting around the bar, as bar girls do, waiting for customers. How many times have you seen it. The girls just sitting there bored out of there minds, no customers, no lady drinks, nothing to do but wait.

Well, these particular girls decided to liven up the afternoon with a game of dominoes. You’ve seen these games in plenty of the bars, along with Shut the Box and Connect Four . You’ve probably played a game or two yourself. After all, these games are a great way to break the ice and have some fun with the girls.

Anyway, the girls of South Pattaya decided to spice up the game by betting a few baht. I’m talking very few baht here. In fact, about 80 baht were involved. Wow, that’s some high stakes.

Didn’t they realize that gambling is illegal in Thailand.  That’s right boys, gambling is illegal. Have any of you guys ever played for lady drinks? Well you’d better watch out or you might end up in the pokey, just like these girls did.

I guess there was an informant somewhere on the premises. The police sent in some undercover officers to observe and sure enough they observed some 20 baht bills changing hands. So, down to the jailhouse went the Pattaya girls. The scourge was removed from the streets.

The hapless Pattaya bar girls were then lectured, fined, filmed, and released back into the public. They have learned their lesson. So, punters of Pattaya, sleep well tonight your city is safe.

Playing cards, chips, and over a million baht were confiscated [...]]]> Three Pattaya girls were arrested during an early morning raid of an illegal poker game at the Encore hotel this week. The raid took place on November 2nd at approximately 2 am. In addition to the three Pattaya girls, eight foreigners were also busted.

Playing cards, chips, and over a million baht were confiscated in the raid. Police were apparently tipped off to the gambling by an informant, possibly a disgruntled loser at poker.

The Pattaya girls that were detained denied that they had been gambling and claimed that they were only present to serve drinks to customers. Nevertheless, the girls were hauled in by police with the rest of the bunch that included several Scandinavians and at least one Israeli.

The poker room at the Encore Hotel has reportedly been active for several months. The ground floor of the hotel houses a popular beer bar as well as hotel reception. The upper floors offer tourist accommodations. Until now it was a well-guarded secret that the second floor housed a casino-style poker room.

The raid at the Encore Hotel comes on the heels of another gambling raid that was conducted just a week ago. On October 26th a group of seven Australians were arrested while playing cards at a private residence on Soi Naklua 23.

The recent raids signal an apparent police crackdown on gambling in Pattaya. The raids were a cooperative effort between the Pattaya and Chonburi Tourist Police. A team of over 20 officers, some in plain clothes, conducted the raid at the Encore Hotel. We are hopeful that the unwitting Pattaya girls will be exonerated.