PATTAYA, Thailand – The recent arrest of two groups of foreigners in Pattaya for playing poker for money has sparked renewed interest in Thai laws relating to card playing and gambling. Reaction on social media has suggested that card playing here is always illegal, quoting the arrest of 32 bridge players in the resort in 2016. The resulting publicity was a major international news story at the time.
But Jomtien and Pattaya bridge club has responded by emphasizing that card playing is not against the law, unless for cash, and that the bridge club was never prosecuted. Club director Jeremy Watson, a former business executive and Thai permanent resident, said, “Our arrest was based on a misunderstanding, which was quickly resolved, and none of our members ever appeared in court or paid a fine.” He added that bridge is regarded as mind sport by the International Olympic Committee, the club being a lifetime member of the provincial sports association in Thailand.
Barry Kenyon, the club founder in 1994 and a former British embassy official, said, “The club is 30 years old this week and still going strong. Gambling is irrelevant as bridge is the ultimate trick-taking game, easily the greatest source of fun that four people can have with a pack of cards.” He added that he had actually started two bridge clubs in his long life, one in Pattaya and the other in Port au Prince, capital of Haiti, over 50 years ago. “Papa Doc’s wife was the Haitian sponsor,” Barry recalled.
