As reported by: The Straits Times
Thailand's opposition has slammed the government over its plans to legalise football gambling, saying the move would compound the country's social problems.

In a report yesterday in the English-language Bangkok Post, opposition leader Banyat Bantadtan said the legalisation of gambling would increase crime and public debt while decreasing commercial productivity.

Legalising bets on football would be tantamount to promoting gambling, a practice the government should instead seek to suppress, he told Parliament on Thursday.

'During the terms of previous governments, police campaigned against and suppressed gambling on football whenever there were major tournaments,' he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

'Now, thanks to this government, police have become more lenient.'

Mr Banyat said he disagreed with 'the excuse' that gambling on football would continue, whether or not it was legalised.

'I believe gambling could be successfully suppressed with a sincere and earnest campaign,' he said.

Finance Permanent Secretary Somjainuek Engtrakul previously told reporters the government was considering a move to legalise gambling on football in the hope it would raise funds for the needy and tax revenue for the state.

The idea has yet to be formally discussed.

On Wednesday, the National Social and Economic Advisory Council also cautioned the government against hasty legalisation of football betting.

The council's vice-chairman, Mr Sangsit Piriyarangsan, said there should be a debate about football gambling before the government considers legalising it.

The public, he argued in a Bangkok Post report, was still not adequately informed about football gambling and which segments of the population were involved in the activity.

He suggested the government concentrate on tackling social problems that result from football gambling.

According to him, tentative figures showed a leap in the number of football punters, from 120,000 between 1992 and 1995 to 2 million nationwide two years ago.

The betting money in circulation has also grown to at least 50 billion baht (S$2.2 million) a year.

More people were attracted to betting mainly because of the frequent broadcast and reports of football matches. The widespread media coverage pandered to people's appetite for betting, Mr Sangsit said.