Deputy Metropolitan Police chief Maj-General Jes Mongkolhatthi, who heads an operation tasked with cracking down on World Cup football betting, said police had arrested 30 major bookies and 140 punters in the past six days and seized Bt71,340 in cash. The total sum being dealt with in cases is thought to be more than Bt13.5 million, he said.

Jes said Metropolitan Police area 4, an area which includes many educational institutes, student dormitories and apartments, had had the most success in its crackdown. Officers there had arrested nine bookies and 35 punters and seized Bt37,030 cash since the tournament began, he said.

In a bid to deter gamblers, police are sweeping through entertainment venues at night. Between last Friday and Wednesday there were 943 raids on entertainment venues to check there was no gambling on the premises and there had been 1,280 anti-gambling initiatives, said Jes.

On Wednesday night alone, police nabbed six bookies, 20 punters and seized Bt28,700 in cash, said Jes.

Cases stemming from those arrests are believed to involve sums collectively totalling more than Bt4.5 million.