Impact of Thailand - Cambodia Borderline Casino Area of Thailand

Abstract

             The objectives of this research were to examine the living conditions of the villager in Ban Dan sub-district, Kap Choeng District, Surin, Thailand; Sraeprai sub-district, Phu Sing District, Sisaket Thailand, and to study the impact of Thailand-Cambodia borderline casino area of Thailand to the gamblers and the local community. This study was a Mixed Methods research: Qualitative research; by analyzing documents and conducting in-depth interviews with key informants, namely 20 villagers, 8 related officials, 12 gamblers, a total number of people was 40. For, the quantitative research; the population were community leaders and community representatives, a total of 314 people. The instruments used were structured interview, non-participant observations, questionnaires, and focused group discussions. The content analysis was used for qualitative data analysis, as for the quantitative data was analyzed by a computer program. The statistics used for data analysis were Percentage, Mean and Standard Deviation.

             The findings revealed that:

             1. The living condition of the community has not been different. There is more convenient traffic and transportation, enlarging road surface, expanding trade and emerging new markets also border markets in the area. According to the border market, many people travel and go to the casino, most of them are none-local gamblers but in case they are the local ones, they are affluent farmers who earn high income or rubber farmers. This resulted in new occupations for villagers, such as selling forest products, pets (chickens, fish, pigs), local food, souvenirs, building rental houses, and causes employment and work in a casino, etc.

             2. There are two main groups of casino gamblers: professional gamblers and amateur; local and non-local, retirees, businessmen, local leaders/politicians, and students. Most of the new gamblers who come in the casino are retired civil servants and the elderly who receive the elderly pension. Some people are addicted to gambling. Finally, they are exhausted, turn to a broken family, ask to live in a casino as a shelter to earn money from the others for a living day to day. Also known as the "Phi Kharng Bon" (a degenerate gambler who has a serious gambling problem)

             3. In conclusion, according to the opinions of the respondents, it was found that the overall average was at a high level ( =4.05) for the impact of the Thailand-Cambodia borderline casino area of Thailand. On the other hand, it revealed that the economy had the highest average ( = 4.27), followed by the family ( =4.12), the social and cultural ( =3.95), and the security ( = 3.84) by considering each aspect, which had both positive and negative effects.