Pol Col Sitthichai Lelasawad made the trip from the nation’s capital in response to recent allegations from outspoken Bangkok politician Chuwit Kamolvisit that casinos were operating on the island with impunity, and in some cases with direct police involvement.
Mr Chuwit himself was due to visit Phuket on Thurday to reveal the sites of the alleged illegal casinos, but postponed the trip at the last minute following Wednesday’s tsunami scare.
The AHTD – a special police division dedicated to the suppression and investigation of human trafficking crime, labour exploitation, and social order – became involved after Mr Chuwit also claimed that prostitution rings and pornographic shows had been operating inside the casinos.
The newly opened Tiger bar complex, and Tiger Discotheque, both on Soi Bangla, and Bangkok Residence Hotel in Patong were all targets of inspections by the AHTD over the last two days (April 13-14).
Film and photographs were taken by the officers as evidence, which they will now pass on to the Royal Thai police.
But what that evidence will show is that casinos were not in operation at those venues, Col Sitthichai said.
He noted the air conditioning and lighting on the upper floors of the Tiger bar complex – one of the locations alleged by Mr Chuwit as housing a casino – had still not been completed, making it unlikely that the venue was being used for anything other than the beer bars on the lower level.
Incomplete facilities illustrate unused space, he said.
The inspection of Tiger Discotheque and Bangkok Residence Hotel also found nothing that might indicate casinos were in operation.
In addition, Col Sitthichai and his officers had visited about 50 Phuket bars and nightclubs in Phuket Town and Patong since they had arrived in Phuket two days ago. No casinos were detected.
However, Pol Col Sitthichai said he would continue to send teams of officers at random to continue the investigation, as he said Phuket has a reputation for being a hub of after dark entertainment.
“We will continue to investigate these allegations,” Col Sitthichai said.
Officers from Kathu police station conducted similar inspections late last month, and also found no evidence to suggest that any of the venues were being used as casinos.
On March 31, Mr Chuwit told Bangkok-based media that he had video footage of Phuket casinos in operation, including clips of a senior police officer entering the premises.
However, as yet no one else has seen the footage. Mr Chuwit said he would only reveal it if the Commander of Police Region 8 pledged to punish all officers involved by transferring them to the troubled southern provinces along the border with Malaysia.
An assistant managing director of the Tiger Group, Sema Sinchai, has insisted that there were no such casinos in the businesses run by Tiger Group, and that the allegations were baseless.
“We would like to see the evidence Mr Chuwit claims he has,” Mr Sema said.