crackdown

"Boiler room" is an expression for hot telephones burning up the lines while articulate "Phone jockeys" spew promises of great returns on investments to unwitting people they call whom they do not know and never talked to before.

The national public sector watchdog is pushing for a tightening of the laws to make sure entertainment venues in Pattaya remain off-limits to teenagers.

Pattaya police continue the crackdown on foreign-related bars in an effort to change Pattaya's international image and to squelch the use and sale of drugs in Pattaya bars.

In February, the Pattaya Times newspaper and website warned local bar owners that a police crackdown was about to begin on bars, pubs, go-gos, karaoke parlors and other venues where hostesses or dancers are available and owned or managed by foreigners.

Bangkok Metropolitan police have arrested 247 gamblers and a total of around 500,000 baht during a crackdown on World Cup gambling. Metropolitan police spokesman Pol Maj-Gen Piya Uthayo said 247 gamblers, seven bookmakers and five bet collectors were detained in Bangkok, as part of their measures to crack down on football gambling during the FIFA 2010 World Cup from June 11 to July 11.