Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand

Gambling crackdowns, short-lived, fizzle out when the public gets bored. Police bribes soon resume and the lucrative underground industry continues.

1. Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand Compared
2. Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand Now
3. Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand Immigration
4. Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand Legal

In legal terms, the question is known as “severability,” and today six of the seven justices – Alito along with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch – who agreed that the PASPA anti-authorization provision was unconstitutional also agreed that the whole law should fall.

Guide to taxes: gambling and lottery winnings, Mass. Department of Revenue Explains how to report gambling and lottery winnings. Massachusetts sports betting: Is legal sports betting available in Massachusetts?, USA Today Sports Book Wire, April 8, 2020. Summary of current Mass. Law on sports betting. Currently, the practice is legal only in select places such as Nevada, home to the gambling capital Las Vegas. While Nevada's Gaming Control board reported $4.8 billion in sports bets last year. Thailand Gambling Laws: Playing Card Act, B.E. Legal Rights of Transgenders and their Partners in Thailand: Sex Laws in Thailand Part 3: Civil Society.

In Legalised gambling in Thailand? The pros and the cons (2008) Chulalongkorn University professor Pasuk Phongpaichit explores both sides of this longstanding issue.
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ILLEGAL CASINOS, Academic makes case forlegalised gambling, SPECIAL REPORT: Study suggests wiping out the industry is impossible, so it is better to regulate and control it by King-oua Laohong

Gambling should be legalised and regulated because it is a lucrativeindustry and it is inevitable people will gamble, while police will take bribes to allow it, a respectedacademic said yesterday.
Sungsidh Piriyarangsan, director of Chandrakasem Rajabhat University's PhD Programme in Good Governance, conducted research into gambling in Thailand and concluded the illicitbusiness can never be eliminated.
Some casinos might closetemporarily when authoritiespublicly flex their muscles, but they always reopen later, his research found.
Mr Sungsidh said his researchrevealed there are more than 170 casinos in Bangkok. Ten are large and permanent, 60 are small and medium-sized, while more than 100 are mobile outfits. Between 180 and 200 billion baht changes hands in Bangkok dens annually. Casino owners make 38-40 billion baht in profit and pay 5-20% of their illegalgains, or 2-8 billion baht, as bribes.

Nationwide there could be hundreds of thousands of illegal gambling operations, with most of them being small dens.
Throughout Thailand, an estimated 640-820 billion baht changes hands in the industry each year with profits put at around 90 billion baht.
Mr Sungsidh has proposed the government solve gambling by convincing police not to receive bribes and legalising casinos, although they must be free of the vestedinterests of politicians and associates.
'Illegal casinos will continue to exist,' he said. 'Big casinos may be closed at the moment but secret gambling dens are still allowed to operate every day.'

Whenever police take action, casinos will be closed for a while but everything will be the same afterwards.
According to a Bangkok police source, several casinos in Bangkok cater exclusively to rich gamblers.

Operators must bribe police and their bribes reflect the size of their casinos and their number of customers. Some gambling dens even operate with catering and waiters.
'Gambling dens at markets in Don Muang, Bang Khen and Saphan Mai areas receive mainly vendors, general people, housewives and retired government officials,' the source said. 'They are medium-sized gambling dens and bet sizes aresix-digit.'

Casinos in inner areas in Phaya Thai and Ratchathewi districts are big and occupy whole buildings.

Well-known casinos that police have searched include that of Jeh Phlia Kingphet, while access to the Tao Pun casino in Bang Sue is difficult.
The source said there are 30-40 medium and large-scale casinos in Bangkok which cannot be suppressed.
This is not because they are unknown but because bribes reach officers at all levels and senior officers in respective areas share bribes with their subordinates, according to the source. A casino owner said bribes went to administrators, soldiers and police officers depending on which parties were influential in respective areas. Bribes for police reach commissioners and stationchiefs in Bangkok and regional chiefs and station chiefs in other provinces.

The source said there was no genuine attempt to suppressthesebusinesses.
'A big casino in the Thon Buri area belongs to a man in power who plans to attack [his competitors] with an anti-casinocampaign,' the source said.

Such campaigns are short-lived and fizzle out when political interest fades. The gambling dens then resumebusiness as usual, the source said
(Source: Bangkok Post, ILLEGAL CASINOS, Academic makes case for legalised gambling, SPECIAL REPORT: Study suggests wiping out the industry is impossible, so it is better to regulate and control it, 31/08/2011, King-oua Laohong, link)
Illegal Gambling Vocabulary
gambling - the activity of betting money, for example in a game or on a horse race การพนัน

gambling dens - hidden places where people gamble illegally
dens - same as 'gambling dens'
secret gambling dens

permanent - happening or existing for a long time or for all time in the future ถาวร
permanent casinos - casinos that are permanent at a place (do not move around to avoid detection = 'mobile casinos')
lucrative - profitable, can get you a lot of money, earning a lot of money ที่มีกำไรงาม
profit - money that you make from selling goods and services after all your costs have been paid กำไร
bribes (noun) - money given to someone to get them to do a favour for you (usually illegal or against the rules) สินบน
bribe (verb) - to give money or presents to someone so that they will help you by doing something dishonest or illegal สินบน ติดสินบน

share - let other people have some of what you have; to have or use something at the same time as someone else ใช้ร่วมกัน
senior officers in respective areas share bribes with their subordinates
illicit - against the law ผิดกฎหมาย
illicit business - a business that is against the law (example: selling drugs, prostitution)
annually - happening every year ทุกๆปีด
200 billion baht changes hands in Bangkok dens annually - Bangkok gambling dens make 200 billion baht each year (revenue)

illegal - against the law ผิดกฎหมาย, นอกกฎหมาย
illegalgains - money made by breaking the law
illegal casinos
legal casinos
legalising casinos

suppress - stop using police or military force or strict laws ปราบ, ปราบปราม
suppress illegal businesses - stop illegal businesses using police or military force
campaigns - 1. a long series of events staged to achieve a goal or to promote something (for example, an 'anti-smoking campaign'); 2. a planned group of especially political, business or military activities which are intended to achieve a particular aim การรณรงค์
anti-casinocampaign - a group of activities that to shut casino campaigns (sometimes only for a short time for show)
temporarily - only for a limited time; not permanent ชั่วคราว
closetemporarily - close only for a short period of time
fizzle out - when something that began with great energy, just ends slowly without anyone even noticing (when the public gets bored with it)
campaign fizzles out - when the campaign slowly ends (after the public grows bored with it)
flex muscle - 1. move your muscle (showing how big and strong it is), 2. do something to show others how strong you are
authoritiespublicly flex their muscles - the government and police do something to show that they are strong (and can control events)
authorities - government officials; the police or people in official organisations who have the legal power to make people obey laws or rules เจ้าหน้าที่ (ตำรวจ หรือผู้มีอำนาจ)

make case for - persuade and convince others that some possible action is good (using evidence, facts, anaylsis and argument and good evidence)
concluded - after looking closely at and evaluating some situation, making some judgement or statement about the situation
regulate - to control an activity officially by using rules ควบคุม
inevitable - will happen in the future, for sure; unavoidable; certain to happen ที่เลี่ยงไม่ได้ ซึ่งหลีกเลี่ยงไม่ได้
respected - admired by many people for your qualities or achievements ที่เคารพ
academic - someone who teaches at a college, or who studies as part of their job นักวิชาการ
research - studying something and trying to discover or uncover facts about it วิจัย
revealed - made known or showed somthing that was surprising or that was previously secret เปิดเผย
researchrevealed - research showed (some facts that we did not know before)

proposed - suggested to, presented as a possible project (but not yet chosen or decided upon)

interests - connections that you may benefit from, therefore affects your attitude to it and the way you deal with it
vested interests - people who gain or lose depending on how events turn out business interests

moment - a very short period of time; a particular time or occasionชั่วขณะ, โอกาสสำคัญ
source - someone who gives information (to newpapers and other media, for example) แหล่งข่าว

X caters to Y - service X is designed and made to make customer group Y happy
cater exclusively to rich gamblers - serve only rich gamblers

catering - the job or organising the food and drinks for an event such as a party or meeting การจัดเลี้ยง (See Wikipedia)
reflect - to show สะท้อน แสดงถึง
vendors - people who sell things from a small stall, cart, or store พ่อค้า พ่อค้าแม่่ค้าหาบแร่แผงลอย
retired - no longer working because you have reached the age where you are officially too old to work เกษียณอายุ
digit - any one of the ten numbers 0 to 9 ตัวเลข (0 ถึง 9)

bet sizes aresix-digit - money gambled in casino (bets) are greater than 100,000 baht (100,000 has 'six digits') (example: The woman in the big office has a six digit salary)

occupy - to fill, exist in, or use a place or period of time; to work or live on a piece of land ครอง, อาศัยอยู่ใน, ครอบครอง
occupy whole buildings - fills a whole building
access - the possibility of entering a place ทางเข้า
difficult access - difficult to enter; difficult to get into the place
scale - size (relative size)
large-scale - large sized (compared to others)
officers - police officers
senior officers - very high level powerful police officers
subordinates - people who work under a person (staff who work for a person; who report to a person)

parties - political parties
influential - powerful; can control events because they are powerful ที่มีอิทธิพลต่อ
influential party in an area - a political party that has political influence in an area
commissioner - a high level official in the police department
station - police station
stationchiefs - the police officer who manages a police station

genuine - real; honest; sincere
no genuine attempt - did not really, honestly, sincerely try to do something (was actually a show)

a man in power - a politician who is in a government position of power (and thus can control events)

interest - payments made for the use of another's money for a period of time

resume - start again after stopping (ธุรกิจ) ที่ฟื้นตัวอีกครั้ง

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Recent LEARNING Articles

What Constitutes Gambling?

Under the Remote Gambling Act (RGA), “gambling” is broadly defined to include betting, gaming, and participating in a lottery.

The RGA defines “betting” to include the staking of money or money’s worth on the outcome of a horse-race or sporting event.

Under the Common Gaming Houses Act (CGHA), “gaming” refers to any game involving an element of chance, or of mixed chance and skill, where players stand to gain money or money’s worth of rewards.

Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand Compared

Games which do not involve money (e.g. a simple game of mahjong between friends with no cash involved) do not fall under the CGHA.

The CGHA also regulates public lotteries, which is defined as a lottery to which the public or any class of the public has or may have access. A “lottery” is defined as any game, scheme or competition whereby money or money’s worth is distributed in a manner dependent on chance, whether or not such a lottery is held or managed within or outside Singapore.

When is it Legal to Gamble in Singapore?

Gaming in a “common gaming house” is an offence under the CGHA. A “common gaming house” includes any place kept or used for gaming, habitual gaming and public lottery, whether or not the public has access to it.

Thus, whether the gambling behaviour in question crosses the line into an illegal act depends on whether the gambling venue is kept as a common gaming house, or a place to be used for gaming.

Private gambling

While the CGHA does not provide a definition for private gambling, it is generally considered as gambling in a place to which the public may not have access (e.g. at home).

Private gambling constitutes an offence if the place where such gambling is carried out is kept specifically for the purpose of habitual gaming as a common gaming house.

Anyone found guilty of gaming in a common gaming house will be liable for a fine up to $5,000, or to imprisonment for a term up to 6 months, or to both.

Gambling in public

Gambling in public refers to gambling in a place to which the public may have access and includes any place in which 10 or more persons are employed.

It is illegal to gamble in any public place. For example, gambling at a funeral held in a void deck may be illegal as a void deck is a public place.

However, if the funeral is held in a private place (e.g. rented space for events) to which the public does not have access, gambling there may be illegal as long as the private place in question does not constitute a common gaming house (as mentioned above).

Anyone found guilty of gaming in a public place will be liable for a fine up to $5,000, or to imprisonment for a term up to 6 months, or to both. Their gaming instruments may also be seized and forfeited.

Placing bets with bookmakers

Bookmakers’ activities are regulated under the Betting Act. Under the Betting Act, a bookmaker is any person who receives or negotiates bets or wagers on a cash or credit basis in exchange for money or money’s worth.

Any person who bets or wagers with a private bookmaker (also known as a “bookie”) in any place or by any means shall be guilty of an offence. Offenders will be liable for a fine up to $5,000, or to imprisonment for a term up to 6 months, or to both.

On the other hand, it will not be illegal to bet with exempted bookmakers such as Singapore Pools, Tote Board and the licensed casinos here.

Playing with jackpot machines

Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand Now

As jackpot gambling falls under the definition of “gaming” in the CGHA, it is illegal to participate in jackpot gambling in a common gaming house or in public unless the jackpot machine is located in a club which is permitted to operate the machine.

Is there a Minimum Age to Gamble Legally in Singapore?

The minimum age to gamble legally in Singapore varies according to the venue of the gambling activity. There is no one minimum age that applies to all gambling activities.

Generally, you have to be at least 18 years of age to gamble in Singapore. For example, Singapore Pools only allows individuals aged 18 and above to buy 4D or TOTO tickets, or placing horse racing bets. To have an account with Singapore Pools, you need to be at least 21 years old.

Under the Casino Control Act, you have to be at least 21 years of age before you can legally gamble in casinos. Minors found guilty of faking their age to gain entry to the casinos will be liable for a fine up to $1,000.

Online Gambling under the Remote Gaming Act

What is online gambling?

Under the RGA, “online gambling”, also known as “remote gambling”, is defined as gambling in which players participate through remote communication.

Such remote communication includes communication through the Internet, telephone, television or radio, or any other kind of electronic or other technology which facilitates communication.

Legality of online gambling

Section 8 of the RGA states that anyone who gambles through remote communication and uses a remote gambling service (explained below) shall be guilty of an offence.

It does not matter whether the gambling was done by the individual only, or together with any other person, or whether the individual directly or indirectly participated in the gambling.

What is a gambling service?

A “gambling service” is defined to include a service for the:

1. Conduct of a public lottery;
2. Supply of public lottery tickets;
3. Placing, making or accepting of bets; or
4. Conduct of game of chance where the game is played for money, or money’s worth, and customers give money, or money’s worth, to play the game.

Point (4) however, does not apply to social games and mobile applications which allow players to purchase tokens or game-enhancement features. This is as long as these games do not provide facilities to convert these tokens or features to money, or to real-world merchandise which can be exchanged for money.

When is online gambling legal?

Online gambling is legal if it is done through an exempt operator. Currently, only Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club have been granted certificates of exemption under the RGA. However, other operators may be granted certificates of exemption in the future.

In the event of doubt, it would be best to obtain more information as to the exemption status of operators by lodging an inquiry with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Consequences of illegal online gambling

If you have participated in unlawful remote gambling activity, a financial institution provider may be issued with a payment blocking order that may:

• Prevent it from accepting credit extended to you;
• Prevent it from accepting any cheque, bank draft or similar instrument which is drawn by or issued to you;
• Prevent it from accepting any funds transfer to or from you; or
• Cause it to block payments or prohibit transactions where these use merchant codes customarily associated with gambling transactions.

You can also be arrested without a warrant.

If you are found guilty of unlawful remote gambling under the RGA, you will be liable for pay a fine up to $5,000, or to imprisonment for a term up to 6 months, or to both.

Sentencing guidelines

The sentencing framework for first-time offenders under section 8 of the RGA was considered in the case of Lau Jian Bang v PP.

Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand Immigration

In that case, the court stated that first-time offenders under section 8 of the RGA will generally be fined at least $1,000 instead of receiving an imprisonment term.

The exact amount of the fine is pegged to the amount of the offender’s bets. Factors which could increase the amount of the fine would include steps taken to conceal one’s illegal bets and lack of remorse. An offender who pleads guilty in a timely manner or cooperates with the authorities may face a smaller fine.

An imprisonment term will generally only be imposed in cases involving repeat offenders.

Prohibition against inviting persons under 21 to gamble online

Under section 13 of the RGA, it is an offence to invite, permit, or cause a person under 21 years of age to gamble online in Singapore.

This includes actions such as sending the person an advertisement about an online gambling service or highlighting information about online gambling to that person with a view of encouraging him or her to gamble online.

Anybody found guilty of inviting a person under 21 years of age to gamble remotely shall be liable for pay a fine of at least $20,000 and up to $300,000, or to imprisonment for a term up to 6 years, or to both. This is unless you can prove that you took all reasonable steps to determine the individual’s age and that you reasonably believed that the individual was at least 21 years of age.

Tips on Gambling Legally in Singapore

Gamble in a private place with trusted friends

In order to avoid being charged for illegal gambling, you must not gamble in a public place, or a common gaming house where habitual gaming takes place.

It is also best to gamble only with a trusted group of friends and refrain from adding others to this group. This is because inviting strangers to gamble may be construed as gambling in a place to which the public may have access, constituting the offence of gambling in a “public place”.

Avoid gambling with seasoned gamblers as they may attract unwanted attention from the authorities. Seasoned gamblers may be characterised as those who are willing to spend large sums of money when gambling, or those who have outstanding debts due to their gambling habits.

Place small bets

You should cap your bets at a small amount. This this will help authorities to understand that you are engaging in a social activity with friends, instead of operating a common gaming house.

Bet only with exempted betting operators

Gambling Should Be Legal In Thailand Legal

Avoid private bookies, and place bets only with exempt betting operators. You should also not attempt to flout the minimum age requirement for betting with exempt operators.

Steps to Take If You Have Been Charged with a Gambling Offence

If you have been charged with a gambling offence, you may want to consider hiring a criminal lawyer to represent you in court.

The lawyer may assist you in seeking acquittal in the event that you did not in fact commit the offence in question.

For example, say that you have been found playing mahjong in public. Under the law, you will be presumed to be gaming in public for money or money’s worth, which is an offence.

However if there was actually no money involved in your mahjong session, a lawyer can highlight this to try and help acquit you of the offence.

Alternatively, the lawyer may assist you by establishing a defence or, if you are convicted of the offence, by seeking a lesser penalty for it.

Need a criminal defence lawyer to assist with your legal matters?

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