District Chief: Prosecution of Pattaya Bridge Players will continue as planned

[phantomfiddler]

A fool, and he has a fool,s face to go along with it !

[Taffyfromflint]

This kind of thickness of head isn't natural. It has to be nurtured to get this sort of 'bright idea"

"I'm a lumberjack and I don't care............."

[cigar7]

I heard that the charges against all players were dropped but the organizer of the club, a 72 year old man, will be charged with playing with cards not approved by the Thai authorities, as stipulated in that 1935 card playing act. The man, if found guilty will have to pay a fine of 130,000 baht, if he pleads guilty the fine will be 60,000 baht.

[casualbiker]

The trouble is that they initially sent a load of police round to the bridge event and now somebody feels the need to justify that decision.

If alcohol was on sale then that changes the whole thing and it cannot be described as a bunch of pensioners getting together to play bridge, if however the pensioners brought their own alcohol and no alcohol was on sale then common sense says they were doing nothing wrong.

if the restaurant was selling alcohol what's that got to do with the drinkers? It's the restaurant that gets prosecuted!

[welsh wizard]

There goes the bail bond, never mind at least now I know not to put roots down.

[Familyaffairs]

Pathetic, vengeful, waste of time for everyone, including the already overloaded judiciary. Maybe he should find something worthwhile and productive to do for thecommunity instead of bothering a bunch of innocent pensioners.

[Psychic]

Phenomenal! Went looking for gambling, found not a trace of it and proceeded to dig up every law he could think of to justify it instead of:

"Excuse me, we were acting on faulty information. The informant will be prosecuted of it was found to be malicious."

And after Khunying Chodchoy met withe the Ministry of the Interior who ruled bridge legal he still insists there is doubt.

I assume that since DOPA is governed by the same ministry that this guy is basically ignoring his superiors.

Good, keep it up. Sooner or later someone above him is going to act.

[robertson468]

Pathetic.A group of pensioners enjoying a game of bridge.

Why don't the police do something more worthwhile with their resources?Such as arresting the real Koh Tao murderer(s).

Read the article, it is not the police!!

[harrry]

Interesting that a few posters who were so definite that the case was totally dropped have not posted on this thread.

[Khun Paul]

There are times when it is really hard tyo feel for Thais, when they openly act in such a manner as to leave you wondering if you need any qualifications at all to run anything.

This person so called District Chief, is not on the same planet and should by all accounts be sent to a mental institution to be assesd, maybe a frontal lobotomy would help in this case.

[BestBitterPhuket]

So Thailand will continue to lose face just because this single individual is trying to avoid (which he isn't) losing face? Say no more...

[HannahD]

When you are in a hole, stop digging!

[kkup]

Every village in the country enjoys these "crimes" on a daily basis.

[kiwikeith]

Doing everything he can so not.

"To loose Face"

To lose face

Loosing face or gaining face, this is the question?? the enlightened one has done the Maths.

He does realise that the amount of face gained for Thailand would be huge if the B2 farce was addressed and the bridge playing oldies stupid bust .

However the expense at gaining that face may be bad for ones health.

The brat pack rules.

[kblaze]

One is encouraged to see foreigners-of-maturity being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Too many of these nonagenarian delinquents are taking advantage of the renowned good nature of the Thai people, bringing in more than two packs of cards at one time, sipping shandy out of hours, gathering in groups of more than five. Why, if laws are not enforced, these miscreants will be stealing walking-frames, racing wheelchairs along Beach Road and raiding pharmacies for Kamagra nocturnally in no time.

Thanks for the much-needed chuckle this morning

[sean in udon]

Admitting he made a mistake seems to be problematic for this guy and many other Thai officials. He may be concerned that his underlings now see him as fallible or even a clown.

Also, he may have invested money in the raid confident of netting a handsome profit which has morphed into a net loss. He may now be chasing his losses.

"He may be concerned that his underlings now see him as fallible or even a clown"

And he's probably blissfully unaware that the rest of the world has already realised he is.

[beammeup]

Meanwhile young Thai men are kicking the crap out of old westerners in Udan Thani after playing GTA. What is this country coming to?

[strapper1]

I saw some kids playing old maid, should I turn them in?

[Scouse Twoccer]

The trouble is that they initially sent a load of police round to the bridge event and now somebody feels the need to justify that decision.

If alcohol was on sale then that changes the whole thing and it cannot be described as a bunch of pensioners getting together to play bridge, if however the pensioners brought their own alcohol and no alcohol was on sale then common sense says they were doing nothing wrong.

"The trouble is that they initially sent a load of police round to the bridge event..."

No they didn't.

The real trouble is so many people cannot read.

[TheCruncher]

A number of restaurants were hit by I believe these same district officials here in Pattaya over the holidays. A rather big fine for selling alcohol in their restaurant between the hours of 2pm and 5pm. Easy money maker for them.

The alcohol law is a law of which everyone is aware, so if you get caught breaking that law it's not easy money, it is stupid money thrown away.

The Bridge debacle is a completely different story though.

[AlphMichaels]

Nobody seems to be bringing this up, including the authorities, was there gambling involved? My grandparents were prolific bridge players and part of a club in SW Florida USA where Bridge Club (Monday, Friday & Sunday) nightly winnings well exceeded my savings in those days - I was in my early 20s

[maoro2013]

Prosecuting these people, but doesn't know if they were doing anything illegal or not?

[maccastime]

Wow what a huge bust this one.still ongoing after so long.serving alcoholic beverages...oh dear me.how much money was seen on the table? this is an absolute disgrace.Thailand is whinging about how the number of tourists not entering here? this will push up the numbers....not.

what about all the illegal casinos in town? drugs being sold all over the place.Bag snatches.etc etc.

turn the page.move on.

[Scouse Twoccer]

Prosecuting these people, but doesn't know if they were doing anything illegal or not?

He does know, according to the letter of the law, and he believes offences were committed but he wants a judge to interpret the law as a precedent.

[NCC1701A]

"The District Chief stated on Thursday that if he did not pursue the case it could set a precedent and encourage others who play cards to challenge the authorities in the future, if it is not completely evident that money was exchanging hands. He would prefer the case be heard in front of a Judge who can then decide if Bridge is illegal to play in Thailand or not."

http://www.thailandbridgeleague.com/bbfc/

http://www.thailandbridgeleague.com/

http://www.britishclubbangkok.org/index.php/sports-games/games-other-sections/bridge

and from my news agency:

In a nation wide crackdown Thai police want all Farang Bridge gamblers to report to them within one week.

After a world wide laugh fest in social media over their arrest of elderly Bridge "players" in Pattaya, the police stated they are not fooled by the obvious gambling that is taking place.

The police insist that it was necessary to conduct the raid with 50 men because criminal elements like these are dangerous and Farangs are highly unpredictable. The police saw a group of "chopper" style motorcycles parked three blocks away and this only added to their suspicions that some sort of gang activity was taking place.

As for the age of the Farangs gamblers, Thai police are well aware of elderly Farang women going berserk while trying to shop at Tesco Lotus. The Thai police stated "We were ready for anything".

"Bridge" is obviously a code word for Poker. And the points system is the way the gamblers divide their winnings. Thai police know from their own experience that no one would sit for hours playing cards without some money changing hands.

The police went on to say as no money was found during the raid, it must be stored off site, and divided up later.

Raids will be conducted not only in Pattaya, but in cities like Hua Hin, where nests of Farang Bridge gamblers could be found at golf course club houses or other locations.

Police are also looking into the Bangkok Bridge Festival being held April 5th-9th sponsored by PTT Group. This type of corruption involving big corporation must be stopped.

[Dogbreath]

Hard to reconcile the treatment of bridge players when assault or robbery of a farang by a Thai youth usually results in a 100 baht fine and a stern warning not to do it again. Priorities seem a little off here.

[ozyjon]

Where's that post,,

''selling up moving to Thailand, Ghana, Burma, Botswana''

who cares, you're there now, what you going to do, are

you still smiling ?

[cancan70]

In any other part of the world this would be known as adding insult to injury. But here in Thailand, I guess saving face at any cost, is way more important.

[terryp]

welcome to the land of smile...please continute to invest your retirement funds etc here while we take the phis out of you

[Stoker58]

Tough on Bridge. Tough on the causes of Bridge. I assume that making the entire country a laughing stock is not an offence.