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Players at heart, the Thais go crazy placing astronomical sums of money on clandestine bets which drained huge amounts of money during the 2002 World Cup. The Thai Farmers Bank announced figures of almost 750 million Euros per country being spent - that's roughly 340 Euros per punter.

There were many places to watch the World Cup. Here, on Sukhumvit Soi 1, Bangkok

.100,000 on the French

>> Thais are sporting people. They'll play football from time to time but what they really love above all is to bet. In Thailand the only legal form of betting is on the horses and the lottery. The other forms of money games are strictly forbidden and punishable offences. Nevertheless, the risk and the thrill of such games are stronger than the law and the Thai population are happy to flout the rules to bet large sums (sometimes extremely large) on a Muay Thai champion, a cockfight, or even the British premier league teams like Manchester United or Tottenham.

The June 2002 World Cup was another occasion in the Kingdom for the hardened punters to get their thrills. The country's bookmakers (400 alone in Bangkok) laid the bets long before the actual event and sums placed reached astronomical heights. A survey carried out by the Thai Farmer's Bank reported amounts of almost 750 million Euros (157 million Baht) - a record! It's not just me that enjoy a bet either (9% of men in Bangkok) but women too (8.8%) delve into their pockets and gamble on football just like the guys. (/LA)

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