Foul play: Thai rubber plantation cockfight ruffled by police raid
Royal Thai Police (RTP) yesterday swooped on an illicit cockfighting ring hidden in the heart of a rubber plantation in Nakhon Si Thammarat. The brazen operation unfolded yesterday, February 20 at 4.30pm, catching both gamblers and organisers off guard.
The ringmaster had audaciously chosen to stage these brutal battles only on Buddhist holy days but his cunning plan unravelled spectacularly.
As officers swept in, led by Police Lieutenant Colonel Narakorn Eadchuay under the command of Police Colonel Apichat Chansamret from Tha Sala Police Station, chaos ensued. Nearly 100 punters scattered in every direction, leaving the scene like a startled flock.
The clandestine cockfights were cleverly concealed within a maze of pathways deep in Moo 6, Taling Chan subdistrict but their secrecy wasn’t enough to evade the RTP. Officers, strategically parking 50 metres away, tactically swooped in, too quick for some.
Sixteen culprits were collared, while eight fighting cocks found themselves abruptly out of the ring. The police also impounded nearly 20 motorbikes and an assortment of cars believed to belong to the gambling mob.
It soon emerged this wasn’t the plantation’s first rodeo, it was, in fact, the third notorious instance of bloodsports on the owner’s premises, reported KhoaSod.
It was intelligence gathering, the tip-off kind, that armed the police with the necessary info to pull off the successful sting. The captured suspects folded under questioning, confessing to engaging in this bloodthirsty sport purely for profit.
All those apprehended, alongside the evidence, have now been ushered to Tha Sala Police Station where they face the wheels of justice. It’s a feather in the cap for the RTP, sending a clear message: foul play won’t fly here.
Late last year, RTP officers in Nakhon Phanom arrested nearly 50 people involved in illegal cockfighting, following a tip-off about a large gathering of gamblers in a rural area. The operation, carried out by a team of over 30 officers, highlighted ongoing illegal gambling activities in the region.
Latest Thailand News
