A True Story     

Police in Thailand investigating a tip-off about an illegal gambling racket met some unlikely resistance — bridge-playing British pensioners who refused to put down their hands even as they were detained by the army.

A member of the public had alerted police to what was said to be a seedy upstairs syndicate run by foreign nationals. Instead of stumbling upon a criminal gang, however, they found the group of committed bridge players.

The 12 Britons, reportedly including the event’s organiser, Jeremy Watson, 74, were among 31 westerners rounded up as more than 50 officers, including some from the army, swooped on Pattaya Bridge Club.

It was the latest in a series of crackdowns on foreign “offenders” by the Thai government in a town known for its links to organised crime. The authorities suspected that the pensioners were gambling on card games, which is illegal in the country.

Although the British ringleaders convinced investigators that they were only playing for points at the club, which meets three times a week above a restaurant, they were suspected of violating a different law, the Playing Cards Act of 1935, which bans the possession of more than 120 playing cards at one time.

Footage of the raid showed the elderly detainees being marched into a van, including a Dutch woman aged 84 carrying a walking stick. The pensioners remained defiant as officers interrogated them and began seizing decks of cards, continuing to play their hands until they were taken away. They were all released at 3am after paying bail of 5,000 baht (£96).