Most Thais oppose casino plans
Nearly 32 percent said they supported the plans because they could bring more tourist dollars to the kingdom, while the rest of the 2,726 Thais surveyed in 18 provinces this week said they were neither for or against casinos.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said on Tuesday that he planned to build five casinos open to both foreign holidaymakers and Thai citizens in the tourist hotspots of Phuket, Pattaya, Khon Kaen, Hat Yai and Chiang Mai.
The move prompting a backlash from social conservatives, who said the gambling havens could spawn social ills such as addiction. Gambling is illegal in Thailand, but Thais flock to neighbouring Cambodia and Myanmar where casinos dot the border.
Under-the-table wagers are also placed on sports in this football-mad country, with one economic research centre estimating that Thais bet nearly one billion dollars on the 2006 World Cup. About 55 percent of the Thais polled by Assumption University said that they thought gambling was a normal part of life in Thailand.
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