Written by DAP NEWS -- Sunday, 06 September 2009
A fish fighting gambling venue on Saturday was raided by Phnom Penh Municipal Police, with cooperation from Sok Roeun, deputy prosecutor of Phnom Penh Municipal court.
The crackdown targeted a location in Toul Svay Prey II Commune, Cham Karmon district, Phnom Penh.
Police arrested 28 gamblers, confiscated 27 motorcycles and 72 fight- ing fish. The gamblers were sent to Phnom Penh Police headquarter for reeducation. The owner of the venue, Lay Chun Hout, 44, was also arrested. “This is the biggest place for fish fighting and many people went to play and spend much money on gaming,” one police who participated in the crackdown told DAP News Cambodia.
Fighting fish were placed in big bottles filled with water to fight one another. Some champion fish can cost between US$10 and US$30.
Police said that a sub-local police station chief did not participate in the crackdown as he was receiving benefits from the bets. “He locked the door and did not to allow us to enter the room of the gaming place,” police told DAP News Cambodia.
This is the first reported crackdown on fish fighting gambling after a series of raids and closures of places offering football gaming. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered all gaming dens closed. However, some illegal gaming places, especially those offering football bets, still linger on in Phnom Penh.
A fish fighting gambling venue on Saturday was raided by Phnom Penh Municipal Police, with cooperation from Sok Roeun, deputy prosecutor of Phnom Penh Municipal court.
The crackdown targeted a location in Toul Svay Prey II Commune, Cham Karmon district, Phnom Penh.
Police arrested 28 gamblers, confiscated 27 motorcycles and 72 fight- ing fish. The gamblers were sent to Phnom Penh Police headquarter for reeducation. The owner of the venue, Lay Chun Hout, 44, was also arrested. “This is the biggest place for fish fighting and many people went to play and spend much money on gaming,” one police who participated in the crackdown told DAP News Cambodia.
Fighting fish were placed in big bottles filled with water to fight one another. Some champion fish can cost between US$10 and US$30.
Police said that a sub-local police station chief did not participate in the crackdown as he was receiving benefits from the bets. “He locked the door and did not to allow us to enter the room of the gaming place,” police told DAP News Cambodia.
This is the first reported crackdown on fish fighting gambling after a series of raids and closures of places offering football gaming. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered all gaming dens closed. However, some illegal gaming places, especially those offering football bets, still linger on in Phnom Penh.
3 comments:
What! They crackdown on fighting fish now. I and my buddies when we were just little youngsters used to own those beautiful, colorful, aggressive fighting fishes.
We would get together and compete. The fishes did the competing though not us. No betting just for fun. We would cheer, jeer, and scream with joy of victory. However we felt sad and mad for the loser ones. But we nursed and took care of them then we released them back to the rivers and ponds. Unfortunately some times, a few of them would belly up from exhaustion, disappointment, and heart broken, I think. We would find a proper place to bury them and gave them fallen hero burials. We didn't want to cremate them because we were afraid that they would smell too good and crazy temptations (instead of fallen heroes, they look like grilled salmons) might set in. We were all look sad.
For the winner ones, we cared, pampered, and fed them with juicy steaks, no correction: juicy mosquito lavas them. We fed them so much, they almost burst their bellies. We grow bigger and stronger. We almost put pillows and blankets for them every night. Except, the jars were just too wet. They were ready to fight at a moment notice. They were the pride and joy. Ah, the good old days. :-)
II am having trouble believing your story, I have been tracking fish fighting for 30 years , and have never seen a fish die in a fight, usually one quits and the other doesn't pursuit him, Yes fish do die, because there ignorant owners don't take care of the losers , infections set in, they quit feeding them. Yes it's unlawful to fight fish in USA, every college still does it. there's game that we started 30 years ago The World Fish Fighting Organization , the fights would never last more than 15 minutes, it started with first strike, everyone in attendance was allowed to cast a vote, thus you had a winner and the loser was given a draw, yes a draw. there was weight classifications, better yet size classifications , there was 25 members in our chapter , the average stable consisted of 10 to 25 fish, if anyone was caught harming a fish, mistreating it because he didn't win, was barred after first warning. The game has lasted on and off for 30 years, 3 generations of Americans have continued you the tradition, you don't have to approve, No one is asking, things I have noticed after 30 years, the active fighting fish out live there lazy fat counter parts, there was a board, if a fish wasn't considered fit for competition the owner was asked to try again in 2 weeks , if he failed again, sometimes the manager would keep him as a pet, or gift him with bowl and food to kids, children, old people in hood, Once again no one is asking for you approval. this has been going on for hundreds of years, we just changed it till no one got hurt seriously, or one quit sometimes. fights last 2 to 3 hours, in Thailand, here the longest fight was 15 minutes, there were fish who had 40 fights, the record being 84 fights, like boxing most would start with 4 rounders and work there way up to 10 rounders and 15 rounders for a title, each round was a minute. Like I said I'm just telling you a story about The best board game ever invented , While I haven't fought fish for years , I still care for them, sometimes I go to a pet store I see them in filthy water on there last fin, I bring them home and nurse them back to health. I will always love Fighting fish, and not all fight, there just like people, and they make excellent pets... Don't believe me, go to Walmart and rescue a starving Betta and you will have a friend till one of you die lol. Once again I'm not asking for your approval.
WHATS NEXT THERE GOING TO RAID SENIOR CITIZENS PLAYING BINGO, THIS IS A JOKE.
Post a Comment