Scrabble: Thai player faces lifetime ban for cheating a second time

[webfact]

Scrabble: Thai player faces lifetime ban for cheating a second time

 

John Chew/Thai Crossword Association Photo

The world of tournament Scrabble - a highly popular game in Thailand - was rocked at the weekend when a leading Thai player was ejected from a tournament in Chonburi.

Pichai Limprasert, who was banned for a year in 2017 after being found guilty of palming a tile and fraudulently entering the University Games, was thrown out of the Eastern Scrabble Championships at Pacific Hall, Pacific Park, Sri Racha.

Fellow players alleged that he was secretly holding a letter P and a valuable 'blank' tile under the table during the early stages of an important game.

He claimed that he had overdrawn and was going to own up but the organizers threw him out at the end of day one of the two day event.

Now Pichai, from Bangkok, who is one of the top ranked players in Thailand and one of the thirty best players in the world faces a lifetime ban from the game, considered a sport in Thailand.

Thailand is known as one of the foremost countries for professional and student Scrabble in the world. It is played in English and called Crossword Game for contractual reasons. It is home to regular prize money tournaments and has thousands of rated players.  Two previous world champions came from Thailand, the first non-native English speakers to triumph.

The game attracts patronage from the Thai Royal Family and sponsorship from major Thai businesses and corporations keen to promote the English language game as an educational tool.

Pichai who had hovered around number 5 or 6 in the rankings for several years suddenly started improving rapidly in early 2016, a meteoric rise that even saw him make the final of the iconic international Brands King’s Cup held midyear in Bangkok and worth $10,000 to the winner.

There – after eight tournament wins in a row including in Chiang Mai, Udon Thani and Sri Racha - he was finally beaten by the world’s greatest player, Nigel Richards of New Zealand in a three game final on stage at a major Bangkok shopping center. Then Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul presented the prizes.

Since returning from his ban Pichai has continued to win many tournaments though Thaivisa understands that following his one year ban he was told if there were any further infractions he would be banned for good.

In Sri Racha last weekend it was claimed that Pichai was palming tiles by keeping two in his hand under the table then at an advantageous time surreptitiously replacing ones on his rack to make high scoring "bingoes" using all seven tiles on his rack. Such plays get a 50 point bonus.

The Thailand Crossword Game Club have not officially announced a ban.

Pichai won the 2019 Thailand Grand Prix Championships (a three leg event held in Bangkok in March to May ) winning prize money and an air ticket to compete in Goa, India as a Thai representative for the WESPA (World English Language Scrabble Players' Association) Championship, in October. The event is a de facto world championship.

Thailand will host the Brand's International - formerly known as the King's Cup - at Central Westgate in Bangyai, Bangkok next month. The four day event will attract participants from more than a dozen countries.

Thousands of schoolchildren from Thailand will also compete in student divisions and in other games such as Sudoku, Crossword Puzzles and A-Math, an equations game using numbers.

Scrabble is an international game; the words FARANG and SRIRACHA have recently been added to the latest edition of the Collins Scrabble dictionary for worldwide play. 

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-06-17

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[geoffbezoz]

A bit unfair on the guy as corruption and cheating are deeply ingrained in Thai culture. Hope that TAT can put a spin on this so it is really a foreigners fault. ????

[Dexlowe]

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naughty

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[Just1Voice]

 

Is there ANYTHING Thai won't try to cheat at?  Sorry, rhetorical question.

 

[ocddave]

A Thai cheating to gain an advantage over others, say it isn't so.....LMAO!

Edited June 17, 2019 by ocddave

[geoffbezoz]

1 minute ago, Just1Voice said:

 

Is there ANYTHING Thai won't try to cheat at?  Sorry, rhetorical question.

 

Apparently the only thing they can not yet  cheat at is death although I hear one of Thailand's top Universities are working on it ????

[JimmyTheMook]

Good Lord!

 

I certainly hope this does not affect the integrity 

of Thailand's image!

[PatOngo]

How many points are "cheat" and "loser" worth in a game of scrabble?

[NCC1701A]

"Welcome to the 2019 World Cheaters Games, currently Thailand is in the number one spot. Will they be unseated?"

[seminomadic]

There's dumb, and there's deep down, obnoxious dumb. We all do dumb things. But when you disrespect the intelligence of others - ie those who know you're cheating - and combine that with a vice like greed or ambition having already been very publicly caught, you're the latter.

 

All Thailand-based games, scrabble clubs, event planners should wash their hands of the guy lest the stain stick to associated Thai organizations rather than just him. What a jerk.

[holy cow cm]

This should be treated as a National Security issue. But then again the elections just showed the world and topped the caked on cheating. 

[bluesofa]

26 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

A bit unfair on the guy as corruption and cheating are deeply ingrained in Thai culture. Hope that TAT can put a spin on this so it is really a foreigners fault. ????

They will just say he was unfairly penalised for having a pee under the table.

[Captain_Bob]

Cheating to get what you want, if successful, is considered admirable in Thai society. It is taught from birth right through the "educational system" and re-affirmed up through old age. Hell, just look at the current lying cheating self-serving "government". The only thing Scrabble punk did wrong was get caught. 

[Dexlowe]

And they say the Chinese will "P" anywhere.

[Orton Rd]

isn't calling it crossword game instead of scrabble also cheating?

[Bluespunk]

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thailand is known as one of the foremost countries for professional and student Scrabble in the world. It is played in English and called Crossword Game for contractual reasons.

And they are?

Edited June 17, 2019 by Bluespunk

[bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

isn't calling it crossword game instead of scrabble also cheating?

IIRC isn't that something to do with the legality of licensing Scrabble in Thailand?

[neeray]

25 minutes ago, seminomadic said:

But when you disrespect the intelligence of others - ie those who know you're cheating - and combine that with a vice like greed or ambition having already been very publicly caught, you're the latter.

Are you describing a board game or the recent Thai election and post-election shenanigans? (sarcasm)

[tingtongtourist]

43 minutes ago, ocddave said:

A Thai cheating to get an advantage over others, say it isn't so.....LMAO!

maybe we will find out if his family have Burmese ancestory.

555

[Orton Rd]

1 minute ago, bluesofa said:

IIRC isn't that something to do with the legality of licensing Scrabble in Thailand?

Sounds like something they would rather not pay for then?

[BobBKK]

It's ingrained and they just can't help it. Then they make excuses "please understand me" it's ok bozo we understand you perfectly.

[stanleycoin]

What a nice chap.

Thailand, showing us,  the best, of the best, of the best.

I'm sure he will move into politics soon.

 

[overherebc]

41 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

How many points are "cheat" and "loser" worth in a game of scrabble?

Only one point at the way out.

[tifino]

53 minutes ago, Dexlowe said:

 n

naughty

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sorry! - cannot duplicate words

[Creasy]

But, everybody else is doing it. Why can't I cheat too ?

[BobBKK]

he was taking the _iss  now where was that 'p'?

[AGareth2]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He claimed that he had overdrawn and was going to own up but the organizers threw him out at the end of day one of the two day event.

of course he was

[bluesofa]

3 minutes ago, tifino said:

1 hour ago, Dexlowe said:

 n

naughty

 u

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sorry! - cannot duplicate words

            v

            e

            r
naughty

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, geoffbezoz said:

A bit unfair on the guy as corruption and cheating are deeply ingrained in Thai culture. Hope that TAT can put a spin on this so it is really a foreigners fault. ????

He couldn't have cheated "as no Thai would do this". 

[Artisi]

36 minutes ago, Captain_Bob said:

Cheating to get what you want, if successful, is considered admirable in Thai society. It is taught from birth right through the "educational system" and re-affirmed up through old age. Hell, just look at the current lying cheating self-serving "government". The only thing Scrabble punk did wrong was get caught. 

However  when the Thai "government" are as good as caught, everything is ok - according to them, as it's for the benefit of the country.