"No Chinese guests, please," reads a notice at a casino in the Monglar town of Myanmar just across the border of Xishuangbanna prefecture, Yunnan Province of China.

Business used to be booming for this cross-border casino, thanks to flocking Chinese tourists. However, that is now history as local government in Myamar is collaborating with China in its fight against gambling, Xinhua learned in a recent tour of Myanmar.

Local police in Monglar said their job was "to make sure no Chinese gamblers were permitted into local casinos."

Six spectacular casinos bordering Xishuangbanna which used to cater for Chinese clients have been shut down in Myanmar and Laos. A total of 80 gambling businesses have been closed in Myanmar and Laos for the sharp decrease of Chinese customers.

"Gambling outside the borders of Yunnan has decreased dramatically after a six-month-long intensive crackdown," Guo Bin, deputy director of the Security Division of the Yunnan Provincial Public Security Bureau.

With local government help, telecommunication, transportation and power supply to casino businesses were cut off, and travel passes for Chinese tourists to such areas were suspended. These measures brought down more than 80 casinos bordering China. Fourteen underground liaison offices of foreign casinos inside Yunnan were rooted out.

Chinese police also worked with Myanmar police to break down a satellite channel used for illegal online gambling, Guo Bin said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2005)