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CRIMINAL LAW IN THAILAND Part 69 : Gambling in Thailand III
This week we're going to look at practical applications of Thailand's gambling laws. You'll recall that gambling in Thailand is regulated by the Gambling Act BE 2478 (1935). It prohibits games of chance and betting on contests like horse racing unless specifically licensed or unless a regulation exists that allows these to be done without a licence.
ILLUSTRATION: NATTAYA SRISAWANG
There's no provision in the act that requires promoters to display the licence or regulations that allow them to offer gambling to the public. However most do post them, so if you don't see something like this, the gambling taking place might be illegal.
Let's look at an example. Assume you run a small restaurant and bar in Thailand. It doesn't have any licences for gambling under the act and none are displayed.
It's a nice little place. You've gone to great trouble to make it attractive to your patrons, who are mostly western Europeans, including installing a big screen satellite TV.
To draw customers you advertise in a local newspaper that you will show Premier League football games on the big screen.
To make things fun, you set up a league betting pool. Your regular customers bet on league outcomes and you hold the money. In fact, you don't make a profit. You do it to get customers in and to keep the drinks flowing.
Is a betting pool like this illegal? It certainly is, under Section 4 of the act. If the police come in and arrest everybody, you and each of your customers participating would be exposed to jail terms and fines.
Another example. Your restaurant is in a shophouse on a popular street. You don't live there and have furnished the rooms upstairs for private parties. Quite often a group of your best customers play poker in one of the rooms. You know they are playing for low stakes but don't benefit financially from this, but rather from the food and drinks they're buying all night.
If arrested, all of these players would be exposed to two years in jail and a fine of 2,000 baht because poker is on list B of the act. You would, under Section 4 paragraph 2 of the act be exposed to the same penalty, because you would be considered a gambling organiser, even if you don't make a profit from the gambling.
Finally, your bar has two pool tables. On Friday nights the pool league meets there. Each of the contestants gives you 100 baht, which you hold for them. There are usually about 25 players. At the end of the night, the winner takes half of the money and the rest is divided between those placing second and third. But pool is a game of skill. Is this a violation of the act?
It is, because under the act placing money on games, even games of skill, is considered gambling and illegal, without the proper licence. The same penalties mentioned above would be applicable to each of the players who contributed 100 baht. These penalties would be applicable to you, because as also explained above, you are considered a gambling organiser, even if you don't profit from the game.
- Published: 27/11/2011 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: Spectrum
This week we're going to look at practical applications of Thailand's gambling laws. You'll recall that gambling in Thailand is regulated by the Gambling Act BE 2478 (1935). It prohibits games of chance and betting on contests like horse racing unless specifically licensed or unless a regulation exists that allows these to be done without a licence.
There's no provision in the act that requires promoters to display the licence or regulations that allow them to offer gambling to the public. However most do post them, so if you don't see something like this, the gambling taking place might be illegal.
Let's look at an example. Assume you run a small restaurant and bar in Thailand. It doesn't have any licences for gambling under the act and none are displayed.
It's a nice little place. You've gone to great trouble to make it attractive to your patrons, who are mostly western Europeans, including installing a big screen satellite TV.
To draw customers you advertise in a local newspaper that you will show Premier League football games on the big screen.
To make things fun, you set up a league betting pool. Your regular customers bet on league outcomes and you hold the money. In fact, you don't make a profit. You do it to get customers in and to keep the drinks flowing.
Is a betting pool like this illegal? It certainly is, under Section 4 of the act. If the police come in and arrest everybody, you and each of your customers participating would be exposed to jail terms and fines.
Another example. Your restaurant is in a shophouse on a popular street. You don't live there and have furnished the rooms upstairs for private parties. Quite often a group of your best customers play poker in one of the rooms. You know they are playing for low stakes but don't benefit financially from this, but rather from the food and drinks they're buying all night.
If arrested, all of these players would be exposed to two years in jail and a fine of 2,000 baht because poker is on list B of the act. You would, under Section 4 paragraph 2 of the act be exposed to the same penalty, because you would be considered a gambling organiser, even if you don't make a profit from the gambling.
Finally, your bar has two pool tables. On Friday nights the pool league meets there. Each of the contestants gives you 100 baht, which you hold for them. There are usually about 25 players. At the end of the night, the winner takes half of the money and the rest is divided between those placing second and third. But pool is a game of skill. Is this a violation of the act?
It is, because under the act placing money on games, even games of skill, is considered gambling and illegal, without the proper licence. The same penalties mentioned above would be applicable to each of the players who contributed 100 baht. These penalties would be applicable to you, because as also explained above, you are considered a gambling organiser, even if you don't profit from the game.