E Asians catch Euro football fever

The tournament is thousands of miles away in Portugal

It may be taking place on the other side of the world and not feature a single player from the region, but Euro 2004 will still be watched avidly by millions of football fans in East Asia.

In Thailand, the twin passions of football and gambling have led thousands to cross into neighbouring Cambodia to avoid a crackdown on illegal betting.

In Indonesia, presidential hopefuls are hoping to gain political capital ahead of the forthcoming elections by offering advice on the beautiful game.

And according to the New Straits Times in Malaysia, football fever could even affect the stock market.

"The market is sure to be quieter. What do you expect if the games are going to be after midnight? We will all have a shortage of sleep, so we will just sleep in the office," one broker told the newspaper.

According to Thai police, around 10,000 gamblers crossed the border to Cambodia over the weekend to place bets on Euro 2004 matches.

"The number for Saturday alone was up to more than 5,000 in four main checkpoints, compared with about 1,000 normally," an immigration police official told the French news agency AFP.

According to the Bangkok Post, other football-mad Thais have gone to Burma to place their bets.

Hoteliers were reporting full occupancy of rooms in towns just across Thailand's north-west border, the newspaper said.

The prime minister is one of Thailand's many football fans

Most forms of gambling are illegal in Thailand, and punishable by up to a year in prison.

Thai police have set up a special control centre to stamp out illegal betting throughout the Euro 2004 championships.

More than 360 gamblers and bookmakers were arrested across the country on Sunday, as part of the crackdown.

But football-mad Thais are still expected to wager $800m on the three-week tournament, according to the country's Kasikornbank Research Centre - a figure which represents about 0.5% of Thailand's annual Gross Domestic Product.

Football has long been an obsession in Thailand - a passion which has been fuelled by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's recent attempt to buy a stake in the English club Liverpool.

Election topic

In Indonesia, a debate between presidential candidates ahead of the July elections focused solely on football.

General Wiranto, whose position in opinion polls has been steadily rising, said the problem with the domestic game was that Indonesian footballers were just too small.

"Surely we can find 11 tall strong young men out of a population of more than 200million," he cried.

Amien Rais, meanwhile, suggested that paying more for referees was the answer.

Perhaps sensing an opportunity to claw back some of her rapidly waning popularity, the current president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, wrote a front page article for one of Indonesia's leading newspapers, promising to build a new national football stadium if she was re-elected.

Then, in a line which could be interpreted as a cry from the heart, Mrs Megawati wrote "The European football championship is nice entertainment for people who are tired of the hustle and bustle of the presidential campaign."