BANGKOK, June 3 (UPI) -- Thailand's prime minister has scrapped plans to hold a national lottery to help buy a 30 percent stake in the Britain's Liverpool soccer team.
"Taking money from the poor is not our aim," Thaksin Shiknawatra told the Financial Times Thursday. "We have to scrap the lottery project. There are over 100 ways to find the funds."
The premier's about-face came amid a growing public outcry against the controversial scheme, which has been described as both unconstitutional and against fundamental Buddhist precepts that ban gambling.
In the wake of intensifying criticism from academics, legal experts and social activists, Thaksin appeared to have been finally swayed by a rare critique this week from Chamlong Srimuang, his old mentor, who warned of a corrupting influence.
