Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the fact that again as I have discussed in the past, Poker has had a weird little history this last year. For a moment it was legal - or it was like legal under certain limited circumstances - and then the government all switched around and now it's flipped and it is illegal. That said, let me just get into this.

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Police Raid Poker Den in Pattaya, Arrest 14 Gamblers. Quoting directly: "Police have arrested 14 people after raiding an illegal poker game operating inside a two-story townhouse in East Pattaya, authorities said. The raid was carried out at around 7pm on February 22 following complaints from residents about suspected gambling activity at a townhouse in Soi Wat Boon Samphan 3 (Khao Noi 3). Officers found a group of men and women playing Poker on the second floor of the house. Police identified themselves and detained all participants at the scene. Police seized six decks of playing cards, a poker table, poker chips used in place of cash, and CCTV equipment. A total of 14 suspects - 10 men and four women, all Thai Nationals - were taken to Nongprue Police Station for questioning." That's important to point out. All Thai nationals. So they are taking this Poker ban just as seriously for Thais, obviously as they would presumably for anybody else, and frankly I have to imagine the consequences for a foreigner under these circumstances would be far worse than a Thai. This will be a minor charge against somebody, probably a fine paid for the people that participated. For foreigners it could be worse, again and it depends on the underlying facts in the case, I don't know everything about this, I'm not going to speculate, but for a foreigner it constitutes a crime and criminal activity could constitute reason for deportation; so that's something to bear in mind. That said, quoting further: "During preliminary questioning, all suspects admitted to taking part in illegal Poker gambling. They were charged with jointly engaging in unauthorized gambling for money or valuables and were handed over to investigators for further legal proceedings." 

Yeah, as I have discussed in other videos, we came within a hair’s breadth I think of seeing Poker legalized here, but I think even in the minds of lawmakers, their thinking on it has moved around a lot as has mine; as has my thinking on gambling in general in Thailand. A year and a half ago, I was sort of ambivalent, if not leaning positive toward it. In the things that I saw in the last year - especially when the rump coalition government back during the summer was trying to basically ram through legislation to allow gambling in Thailand and then it looked to me like it was going to be gambling that was going to be set up to benefit foreign interest rather than anybody here in Thailand - I really changed my mind about whether or not this is good at all for the country. Frankly, I think moving forward, it would just be best if we just leave it be, just don't even go after legalized gambling at all. I think there are too many problems associated with it. I think the social ills that would befall Thailand would definitely outweigh any benefit, especially if there is going to be foreign involvement because it would be a situation where Thailand has got to bear the brunt of the social ills and foreigners are going to profit from it, so what's the point of that. That being said, again we came very close with Poker.

I still think there is a strong argument that Poker is something different from standard gambling. It is a skill game at the end of the day, there is a reason and I made videos on this. I even cited the movie Rounders in a thumbnail; there's a reason it's the same 10 guys on the last World Series of Poker table. There are skilled; they know how to play Poker; it's not completely a game of chance. If there was the World Series of Craps, well every year you would see different people there because it is a chance game. 

That being said, I find this kind of interesting. Clearly Thai Police are cracking down on illegal gambling. If you are a foreigner in Thailand, very much not a good idea to engage in such activity for fear of having problems yourself. Now that said, there are exceptions to the rules with regard to illegal gambling, most notably horse racing here in Thailand is legal. We do have a lottery here. There is certain wagering allowed in the context of certain types of Muay Thai betting; again that gets very specific, I am not going to go into that. But long story short, yeah Poker remains illegal. It was there for a moment in kind of a state of legal limbo, but that has all been sort of washed away and now things remain in status quo ante illegality here in Thailand and the Police are cracking down and enforcing the law regarding gambling here in the Kingdom of Thailand