Jaloon Htaw – A kind of slot machine gambling, locally known as “Apple Gambling,” recently reopened on the Thai-Burma border in Three Pagodas Pass (TPP), along with massage parlors fronting prostitution, said local residents.
A large restaurant named “Kha-na-sought,” or, “Just A Little,” opened on the “Shwe U Down” Lake Street and offers restaurant, karaoke, and prostitute services, along with seven service rooms located in the rear of the building, explained a TPP resident not wishing to reveal his/her name.
“Now, Shwe U Down Lake, the sacred shrine of the town, is crowded with prostitutes, and this could sully the dignity of the inhabitants. The series of seven rooms is the barracks for prostitutes. That should not exist in this town,” continued the resident.
U Hnote Khan Hmwe and his co-shareholder, Ma Thwe, manage Kha-na-sought Restaurant. The anonymous resident asserted that the two have a mutual relationship with the Karen Peace Group in TPP.
Meanwhile, the “Apple Gambling Centers” reopened at the end of March, even though TPP authorities banned them in the first week of February this year.
U Cho Lay, a spokesman for the TPP Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said they would attempt to eliminate the gambling centers and prostitute businesses.
“We are a political party that protects the public’s interests, and our party members must attempt to stop these occurrences,” said U Cho Lay.
TPP Shwe U Down Lake has been the pride of town since before the era of the military government (1990). It serves as a resting place for locals and provides a water supply for the residents in Wards 2 and 3.
According to a senior TPP politician, small restaurants operated on the shores of the lake after the festive period in November 2011, but since then have expanded into larger operations.
Running the restaurant pollutes the water source nearby and the surrounding land is littered with condoms, described the local eyewitnesses.
The TPP is a multi-ethnic border town inhabited by Burmese, Thai, Karen, Mon, and other ethnic groups, and is an important commercial center along the Thai-Burma border.
