Confusion and Anger at Pattaya Bridge Club Raid

[waighty]

you know, i don't come here to bash Thais, they do it to themselves.

This story has gone viral and the Thai police are being ridiculed around the world.

I agree with you 100%.

[flyingdoc]

Think of the high stakes in Monopoly and gambling on collecting top hotels in London! Scrabble must be on the danger list too !

[bkkcanuck8]

I would not risk playing monopoly, the residence would be raided and the occupants arrested for possession and distribution of counterfeit money.

[lungnorm]

A Bridge too far. What a joke. They have really stuffed up this time. Hope they get all the ridicule they deserve world wide. I suppose the Bridge club was an easier target than the counterfeit goods raid at the Sa Kaeo markets. Prositution is illegal in Thailand, what would happen if they played bridge in some of the bars?

[GlobalLifeConsultants]

Yesterday I saw one criminal was behind the bars because they couldn't pay. Let me know if I can help.

[flyingdoc]

Monopoly must be in grave danger with the ability to buy large hotels in London ! Scrabble must be endangered too?!!

[Brer Fox]

These innocent people where kept at the Police Station for 12 hours!

Yes, how about the British Embassy sticking it's head above the parapet.

Give that crawling Ambassador something to do instead of pandering to the local top dogs.

This RAID of course was not thought out at all and leaves the Police with a lot of egg on their important Faces!

But of course as Thai are NEVER wrong there will be no proper apology.

The Ambassador is too busy hobknobbing and gladhanding while doing the cocktail party circuit.

[Yann55]

I think it was a bridge too far for the police and they got red ears by now.

Well, I don't know if they've got red ears, I certainly hope they do, but what strikes me most in this incident is how could the Pattaya Police Department send fifty guys on a raid just because some despicable farang-hater decided to have a go at his neighbors ?

Does that really happen ? How does so much energy, money, time and people get put in motion on such thin (and obviously ill-informed) information ?

Obviousy there was no double check, discreet inquiry, nothing. One envious moron gives a grass up call and all hell breaks loose, just like that !

You know what ? If anything, I find it scary as hell. What next ? A Pattaya retiree gets arrested in the middle of the night, accused of dealing drugs, simply because he forgot to say hello to his Thai neighbor the day before ?

[gandalf12]

Funny that the police do not appear to understand the laws they are paid to enforce.

[leeneeds]

old mate who has embelished to the police of comings and goings will be ducking for cover,

deflecting the noses of police in another direction,

[off road pat]

I've no idea what the BIB's informant told them but I'll bet they were wetting themselves with excitement at the thought of knocking over a foreigners only ' gambling den ' so went in mob handed ready for anything.

Interesting dilemma now over what to do as it may be just too much loss of face to admit it was an unfortunate mistake so they might decide some offence, any offence, is applicable but possibly not prosecute in an effort to regain dignity. ' See how reasonable we are ? '

I can see the informant getting a thick ear, at least.

Incidentally this is now subject of a BBC tongue in cheek report. It's reported all those involved were released on bail after being held for 12 hours.

Nah,...there will be a new case so overblown to cover the loss off face of this one soon....

[SamuiLoner]

They say that playing Bridge is like sex.... If you don't have a good partner, you better have a good hand..!!!

[Acharn]

you know, i don't come here to bash Thais, they do it to themselves.

This story has gone viral and the Thai police are being ridiculed around the world.

Ridiculed. Well, yes. It's OK, they're used to it. They don't really care if people outside Thailand ridicule them. The only thing that matters is whether or not they please the Prime Minister's minions.

[sawadee1947]

Where are the UK diplomatic staff in this farce? My guess is not wanting to upset international relations instead of taking those concerned to task for treating its citizens in such a way...

IF it was a crime....noboby of diplomatic staff would interfere. So they'll wait until everything is checked. I wonder even if they contacted police or army already.

And also I wonder if a raid like that was the right way to tackle their problem with farangs. And that the authorities got problems I think is quite evident.

[off road pat]

next,...??? Chess clubs,...??? oh no not Chess clubs.....!!!

[Jools]

It's a good thing they weren't playing "Old Maid", they would have been charged with human trafficking, as well.

[cumgranosalum]

Do we know the name of the officer who conceived and carried out this raid.....it would be lovely to hear his/her thinking on the matter.

[Guest]

The Benny Hill version of the raid

Edited February 5, 2016 by Guest

[gregk0543]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/33109003

Bridge and other sports. Fascinating. Chess I can understand.

I wonder what all the owners of illegal Thai casinos are thinking?

Maybe the Bridge clubs in Thailand ought to go to them for legal advice. Oh yes isnt prostitution illegal in Thailand?

What strange sensibilities. Amazing Thailand.

[IamNoone88]

Bridge is game when some intellectual capacity and skill is required. It is understandable the BIB did not figure it out.

[Chongalulu]

Do we know the name of the officer who conceived and carried out this raid.....it would be lovely to hear his/her thinking on the matter.

"Thinking?".......do you want to "rethink " your post?!555

[i claudius]

Thailand is getting more bad press around the world than you could ever imagine and its free , if only they could get as much good press without paying for it . ,

[cumgranosalum]

I was shocked the other day whilst out for a bit of shopping, I strolled down one of those narrow Sois that lead to beach road....and on about 3 occasions I was approached by these women.....garishly dressed in floral print dresses and blue rinses, accompanied by their "pimps" in tweed jackets with leather elbow patches, i feared the worst as time and again they sidled up to me with the classic utterance

"Hey, mister, Fancy a rubber?" - I couldn't believe, it in a town like Pattaya too.....

i'm so glad the BiB have taken up the matter and plan to rid a beautiful town of this scourge.

[kiwikeith]

I've no idea what the BIB's informant told them but I'll bet they were wetting themselves with excitement at the thought of knocking over a foreigners only ' gambling den ' so went in mob handed ready for anything.

Interesting dilemma now over what to do as it may be just too much loss of face to admit it was an unfortunate mistake so they might decide some offence, any offence, is applicable but possibly not prosecute in an effort to regain dignity. ' See how reasonable we are ? '

I can see the informant getting a thick ear, at least.

Incidentally this is now subject of a BBC tongue in cheek report. It's reported all those involved were released on bail after being held for 12 hours.

Time for the Big Boy to say sorry, reprimand those who conducted this farcial raid, reimburse all expenses incurred and apologise and gain face for himself on the world stage.

[NongKhaiKid]

Do we know the name of the officer who conceived and carried out this raid.....it would be lovely to hear his/her thinking on the matter.

I'm grateful members are supplying more background information on how this raid came about etc but I wonder when the tasty information about foreigners gambling if any effort was made to verify it before the cavalry charged ?

Did foreigners, big headlines and pats on the back etc take over from a more reasoned approach ?

Well they got their headlines just not the ones they wanted or expected.

[Maeklong]

"Regarding the law, Khunying Chodchoy stated that an amendment to the Gambling Laws in 1960 allowed for such games, where money was not changing hands, to be played without any form of license or authorization from the Police or Government."

That statement is interesting in itself. One would have to ask why this hadn't been cited earlier to the authorities by those arrested considering the length of time the bridge club has been operating and assuming those running the club knew (and you would expect this, knowing the rules, especially with anything to do with gaming here).

Perhaps it was cited, and that would be the reason why they dredged for the 'more than 120 cards' regulation. That said though, if bridge is legal, amended by law, how can the 120 card rule apply to a legalized game?

Possessing more than 120 cards is legal, but only if each card has an Excise Department stamp.

Yep, noted. Forgot to mention the stamp issue........................

Wonder where they got the cards?

"Illegal" playing cards can be found in just about every dry goods market, whether indoor or outdoor, in Thailand. To be legal, each boxed pack of cards should have an oblong green paper sticker sealing it shut. Imported cigarettes, hard alcohol, and the boxed apple juice made from imported concentrate you buy in the supermarket all come with such seals. However, it is common practice for card clubs to use many packs of cards, and the boxes are usually discarded, since once opened, it is time consuming to put them back in. Since there are only a few common brands of playing cards (Bicycle is maybe the most common), without the boxes, the police would be unable to tell whether the stamp duty had been paid to make them "legal" cards.

With the arrival of the AEC, there is a movement afoot to eliminate antiquated, obscure and un-enforced laws, of which there are thousands on the Thai books (which Malaysia has done successfully to draws new investment), and the 1943 stamp tax law the police dusted off to save face in this instance should be one of them. Just imagine, in 1943, commercial aviation was in its infancy, and most people traveled to other countries on boats or ships. Tourism didn't exist for the commoner, only for the elite and very rich, and arrivals from western countries might have only been a few hundred/year. To use a law from that period to lock up a bunch of Western retirees playing bridge in one of the most notorious cities in the world is absurd.

[Saan]

I think in this case the police are batting out of their league. Kunying is a title, similar to Dame in the English system bestowed by the King. And this particular Dame, Kunying Chodchoy, is also the daughter of the founder of the Bank of Bangkok.

[spermwhale]

The bigger story is how the cops can decide to storm a place based on a tip off and without a proper investigation before conducting a raid with so many police and soldiers.

It shows you the depth of ineptitude of the cops here. No damn way cops in Oz, US or Europe would storm a place first without doing some undercover work.

I've been living her for 12 years and I am getting tired of this joke of country.

[barryofthailand]

It will get thrown out of court. The unfortunate thing is they will have to wait 90 days to get their bail money back

[spermwhale]

"Regarding the law, Khunying Chodchoy stated that an amendment to the Gambling Laws in 1960 allowed for such games, where money was not changing hands, to be played without any form of license or authorization from the Police or Government."

That statement is interesting in itself. One would have to ask why this hadn't been cited earlier to the authorities by those arrested considering the length of time the bridge club has been operating and assuming those running the club knew (and you would expect this, knowing the rules, especially with anything to do with gaming here).

Perhaps it was cited, and that would be the reason why they dredged for the 'more than 120 cards' regulation. That said though, if bridge is legal, amended by law, how can the 120 card rule apply to a legalized game?

Possessing more than 120 cards is legal, but only if each card has an Excise Department stamp.

Yep, noted. Forgot to mention the stamp issue........................

Wonder where they got the cards?

"Illegal" playing cards can be found in just about every dry goods market, whether indoor or outdoor, in Thailand. To be legal, each boxed pack of cards should have an oblong green paper sticker sealing it shut. Imported cigarettes, hard alcohol, and the boxed apple juice made from imported concentrate you buy in the supermarket all come with such seals. However, it is common practice for card clubs to use many packs of cards, and the boxes are usually discarded, since once opened, it is time consuming to put them back in. Since there are only a few common brands of playing cards (Bicycle is maybe the most common), without the boxes, the police would be unable to tell whether the stamp duty had been paid to make them "legal" cards.

With the arrival of the AEC, there is a movement afoot to eliminate antiquated, obscure and un-enforced laws, of which there are thousands on the Thai books (which Malaysia has done successfully to draws new investment), and the 1943 stamp tax law the police dusted off to save face in this instance should be one of them. Just imagine, in 1943, commercial aviation was in its infancy, and most people traveled to other countries on boats or ships. Tourism didn't exist for the commoner, only for the elite and very rich, and arrivals from western countries might have only been a few hundred/year. To use a law from that period to lock up a bunch of Western retirees playing bridge in one of the most notorious cities in the world is absurd.

Nice analysis! Well done.