Two days after the reopening of the Thai-Cambodian border, all seven border casinos on Khmer soil were operating yesterday.

However, Thais now face stricter screening of their passports and visas as a result of the government's attempts to discourage them from gambling.

The seven casinos, over the border from Sa Kaew's Aranyaprathet district, shut down after the government ordered the closure of the border after anti-Thai riots destroyed the Thai Embassy and Thai-owned businesses in Phnom Penh in late January.

The border crossing reopened on Friday, after the government said Cambodia had "shown sincerity" in normalising ties by paying compensation of Bt250 million for the damage to the embassy.

Sa Kaew immigration police chief Captain Pratak Juengtrakul, said that on Saturday 9,640 Khmers and 344 Thais had crossed.

"We have put stricter screening measures on Thais who want to go to Cambodia," Pratak said. "They are required to have valid passports and visas. This move is in accordance with the government's policy to deter gambling."

He expected about 10,000 Cambodians to come to Thailand yesterday.A Thai who identified himself only as Samarn, 52, said that he had had to travel to a casino in Burma's Victoria Point over from Ranong province when the Cambodian border crossing was closed.

Samarn said he believed that the Cambodian casinos would return to normal - that is, crowded with Thais - within a week, since the trip to Burma was too long.

A Cambodian immigration officer, Kim Saret, said that a large number of Cambodians were expected to flock to the border markets before and during the Songkran festival in the middle of next month.

"We regard it as our New Year's Day, so many Cambodians will need a lot of food and other things for then," Saret said.