Is A Cash Prize Game Of Skill Gambling?

[Abyss]

If you have a game where using your skill (and luck of course) you can win cash prizes, is it classed as gambling in Thailand?

Thanks

Andrew

[TRIPxCORE]

Probably

[Guest IT Manager]

Still don't kow why you don't have chicken racing. More fun IMHO.

[Indo-Siam]

I agree. My company once had a client seeking assistance in getting a US-made pinball machine clearred through customs (where it had been seized). In investigating, we leaned that the shipping and importing parties had misrepresented the shipment as some other kind of electrical apparatus - Thai Customs immediately identified it for what it was - and seized it as a banned import. They would not return it to origin - they suppposedly destroyed it (I'm sure it eneed up at some Police General's private villa).

Our client supposedly lost something like US $10,000 (it was supposedly some sort of collector's item - I never saw it, so client may have been making this up). Customer also "did a runner" on us - so we never got paid. At least we didn't have to pay his fine for misrepresenting item on import paperwork - I don't recall this issue even coming up.

Moral of the story: Don't attempt an import - even by subtrefuge - unless you are prepared to loose 100% of value of goods.

Good luck!

Steve

Indo-Siam

[penelope]

Tiger Woods won the Johnnie Walker Golf Classic in Thailand a few years ago.A game of skill and a bit of luck somtimes, LARGE cash reward.

Professional sport is 1st person/team perspective competition for prize money.

Gambling is the 3rd person perspective wagering of money on the outcome of the competitors.

[Pink Mist]

Did Tiger have a work permit?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

No need....international sportsmen are exempted from the WP thingo.

[Mig15]

You don’t win money on pinball machines! How can that be gambling? - TIT

[Pink Mist]

Great a way around the WP doc, we get a two up school going in KK. Two up is an Aussie sport, we play it overseas it becomes international. Me I only take heads.

[Indo-Siam]

MIG 15 - I do not know - but it was the "gambling machines" prohibition that prevented the importation of the pinball machine.

I have seen many video style games, but never a mechanical game here in Thailand - for whatever strange reason, mechanical games are considered "gambling machines". This isprobly due to overly broad rules being applied, to prohibit casino type mechanical apparatus from entering.

Indo-Siam

[Abyss]

hi

The game i have in mind is not machanical in any way, and can be made in thailand (which would be cheaper anyway), so no need to be imported.

Who would i have to ask to find out if it is ok to set up? a Thai lawyer maybe?

thanks

Andrew

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Ask Sunbelt or Indo-Siam. Both do this sort of work.

[Indo-Siam]

The trouble is - who are you going to submit your clearance request to? There is no "Minstry of Games of Chance With Cash Payout".

We can sbmit a Thai patent application for a client. I suspect that you can patent an apparatus/design that is not legally usable inside Thailand.

Best route is probably build one, put it into a bar, and see what happens. If trouble descends upon it, find out what legal statute is being violated - make them generate a little Garuda-emblem summons, or seizure receipt.

But - what Anbss is describing is creating a Casino - albeit a one square meter, one-machine casino. I can state with resaonable certainty that this is not allowed - presently. I suspect that within 10 years, it will be allowed.

Indo-Siam

[dr_Pat_Pong]

But - what Anbss is describing is creating a Casino - albeit a one square meter, one-machine casino. I can state with resaonable certainty that this is not allowed - presently. I suspect that within 10 years, it will be allowed.

and it will be owned by the Government or a combination of Government and shareholders.

[Abyss]

OK thanks, it's actually designed for outside use though, like a sidestall on the fair. My friend who owns a hotel in thailand and is thai, seems to think there will be no problem and wants to be my partner....... funny, soon as there money to be made everthing is legal in their eyes, but can i get into trouble? I am present filing a patent for this design in u.k for international recognition, because i used it one summer in the u.k and it was very popular and profitable in the right location.

[Indo-Siam]

I do not think you can get in trouble for building an apparatus (other than perhaps a weapon, or a terrorist device). You can get in trouble for making money off illegal activity.

So -you build it, lease it to him - he earns money off it, you earn an equipment lease - or a royalty - for your entertainment device. I doubt you have much liability.

Separate, that is, from working illegally, etc.

But - I would definitely go the route of making a few prototypes, and placing them into service for 6-12 months, before I invested in significant manufacturing capability.

I still presume that any signifucant activity will be shut down under anti-gambling statutes. For a country as loose as Thailand is in most respects, it says something when you note that there are virtually no pinball machines, slot machines, etc. anywhere around. That is not by chance - that is by prohibition.

Indo-Siam

[Abyss]

OK thanks

I suppose that goes for the quiz machine you can win cash on too?

......... strange pinball machines being illegal?

oh well funny o' world!

[PREM-R]

I have arrived at this topic late but it is a subject that has crossed my mind many times since I have been here in Thailand, what exactly is gambling in the eyes of the Thai Authorities. If I were to organise, for example, a ten-pin bowling competition with an entry fee and a cash prize for the winner would that be considered gambling? In my opinion this is not gambling but a skill which is rewarded. By this same token if I were to organize a 'Pop Quiz', again with an entry fee and a cash prize for the winner, would this be gambling? Knowing the answers to the quiz is surely a skill which is again rewarded with a prize for the winner.

BTW which Government department is responsible for 'gambling legislation' it may be possible to find out the answer to my questions if I knew where to ask!