A bridge too far: Thai police arrest elderly expats for playing cards
4th February 2016
WHEN you’re in Thailand, make sure you don’t have too many playing cards or it may cost you. Thirty-two elderly foreigners had the shock of their lives when they were detained by local police while playing bridge.
The mostly British foreigners had gathered to play the game in a rented room above a restaurant off Thappraya Road in South Pattaya when over 50 officers stormed the premises, reportedPattaya One.
Here’s a video of the raid:
The foreigners were members of the Jomtien & Pattaya Bridge Club, which meets three times a week. Formed in 1994, this is the first time the club faced the strong arm of the law.
The raid was ostensibly directed at gambling activities. “There were 32 people, all of them foreigners arrested for gambling on Wednesday night,” Pattaya police superintendent Colonel Suthat Pumphanmuang, told AFP.
Gambling is strictly prohibited in Thailand, aside from the lottery and some animal fighting bets.
However, after failing to establish that monetary exchanges took place, the police then turned to different offenses. They cited Section 8 of the Playing Cards Act of 1935, which criminalizes the possession of more than 120 playing cards at one time. And since this was a bridge gathering, there were obviously more than 120 playing cards on the premises.
Reads like a spoof but I think isn't-#Thailand police raid bridge game and arrest players for having too many cards bit.ly/1PTqZDZ
Police also noted that the boxes of playing cards did not have official government seals.
Suthat said that all but one of those arrested have since been released after enduring 12 hours in custody and putting up 5,000 baht (US$140) in bail money, reported the Bangkok Post. A German woman was still behind bars at time of writing, refusing to sign a document admitting to gambling
The official website of the bridge club appeared to have been suspended Thursday.
This looks pretty suspicious to me. pattayabridge.org
