Claw Machines are now Banned

[Taa_Saparot]

https://chiangmaione.com/illegal-gambling-chiang-mai-police-order-crackdown-on-claw-machines-3549

Police Order Crackdown on Claw Machines
by Dave D - May 8, 2019

Following a complaint from a parent May 6 that claw machines and similar devices located in a Chiang Mai mall where kids can win stuffed animals constituted gambling, Chiang Mai Police have ordered an urgent crackdown on the machines.

For those not familiar – a claw machine also known as a claw crane or doll’s chest in Thai, is a type of arcade game commonly found in video arcades, movie theaters, shopping malls and bowling alleys, at least in the west.

Those playing a claw machine operate a claw that they maneuver in an attempt to grab and win a prize, often a stuffed toy.

As a game of chance, Thai police have ruled the devices illegal gambling machines.

Talking to Thai language media yesterday, Pol.Lt. Col. Pichet Chirananantisen of Chiang Mai Provincial Police said that he had ordered all areas within the province to be inspected for the devices and should they be found, the operators should be prosecuted.

The machines have been deemed to be Type B gambling class 2 devices under Thai law. Gambling, with very few exceptions (Thai Lottery/ at horse racing tracks), is illegal under Thai law.

The claw machines at the center of the initial complaint, located at the Promenada Shopping Center in Tha Sala, have since been covered up with the shopping center owners saying that they have ordered the operator to remove the machines.

 

[Scottie1]

In Florida they used to have live lobsters as prize.Could never get away with that in UK.

[keepitfun]

What are these guys gunna do now?

[mixedberrys]

I was in the bar at Siam Bayshore on Sunday playing pool with my  girl when the police arrived to relax in the bar during the midday heat. We had a 600 baht bet on the side of the table which I quickly hid as there seems to be a crack down on gambling everywhere. She thought I was overreacting but after reading this story maybe not. 

As usual she won the game. 

[storytime]

50 minutes ago, Scottie1 said:

In Florida they used to have live lobsters as prize.Could never get away with that in UK.

Went swimming in Pattaya sea and one attached it's claw to my bum, had to tip a ladyboy to help me pull it off, good thing I wasn't  wanking in the sea whilst looking at a Russian families 20 year old daughter wearing a revealing bikini.

Edited May 8, 2019 by storytime
Improve grammar.

[Taa_Saparot]

BAN ON CLAW MACHINES FINALLY ENFORCED

June 26, 2019

A ban on claw machine games is finally being enforced, more than a decade after the Supreme Court ruled they are illegal gambling machines.

Visitpat Anantarasuchart, the head of legal affairs at the Department of Provincial Administration, vowed on Tuesday to heighten investigations into suspected arcade machines because they are “luring the youths.”

Authorities seized a claw machine in Udon Thani on June 17, a raid prompted by a public complaint.

In 2004, the Supreme Court classified the popular arcade games, where players use a joystick to control a claw with the aim of retrieving prizes, as “gambling machines”.

Under the Gambling Act, any machine where players win or lose possessions is classified as gambling. The act’s annex also listed games like lucky draws, bingo, and even table footballs as gambling. But the law has not been strictly enforced, with claw machines remaining a common sight in shopping malls around the country.

The law requires a license to operate gambling machines, but no such license has ever been granted, according to a phone interview with an unnamed department official on Wednesday.

A Ministry of Interior internal memo dated October 31, 2006 also specified that its official policy not to grant gambling licenses.

The official refused to answer whether claw machines will continue to be tacitly allowed going forward, answering that “they have to be investigated on a case by case basis.”

On Monday, the Customs Department seized containers of arcade machines imported from China falsely declared as “metal office furniture.

[bluechef]

On 08/05/2019 at 17:54, storytime said:

Went swimming in Pattaya sea and one attached it's claw to my bum, had to tip a ladyboy to help me pull it off, good thing I wasn't  wanking in the sea whilst looking at a Russian families 20 year old daughter wearing a revealing bikini.

Having been around seafood most of my life, I'm telling you this never happened, For one lobster's with claws do not live in tropical waters.

 

[fforest]

The whole thing is just retarded....You win a toy not money...

[fforest]

I will bet money they are just itching to legalize casinos...

[Arnie85]

Vaping, standing on the back of baht buses, smoking and littering on the beach are all banned as well.  Good fucking luck. 

[bangna]

There's a few in Tukcom - or were last time I looked 

[storytime]

9 hours ago, bluechef said:

Having been around seafood most of my life, I'm telling you this never happened, For one lobster's with claws do not live in tropical waters.

 

Oh ok, when I next go down Soi 6 I'll bow my head in shame so no other addict's member will recognise me.

[Yogi007]

On 08/05/2019 at 11:51, mixedberrys said:

I was in the bar at Siam Bayshore on Sunday playing pool with my  girl when the police arrived to relax in the bar during the midday heat. We had a 600 baht bet on the side of the table which I quickly hid as there seems to be a crack down on gambling everywhere. She thought I was overreacting but after reading this story maybe not. 

As usual she won the game. 

Wheres the pool table at Siam Bayshore?

[QuotaMan]

Hopefully they'll let it slide in Pattaya like everything else that is technically 'illegal.'

Playing the claw machines at Central Festival has always been one of the highlights of my trips.

[vimto66]

On 08/05/2019 at 11:22, keepitfun said:

What are these guys gunna do now?

Helmets on and back to mars i`d say!

[tuga]

Well I heard some machine models has the "anti-win" and others if you know correctly its always a win, I heard some dude went to this machines and made a living of it selling the toys out of it somewhere in America I think? still this was always been a scam but still fun so who cares its not like you would spend crazy money on it 

[mmaaarrrkkk]

On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 10:57, QuotaMan said:

 

Playing the claw machines at Central Festival has always been one of the highlights of my trips.

THAT is the highlight of a trip to Pattaya?

[freedom42]

They havent got the one in Otteri Laundromat yet! Send all the claw addicts down there to play whilst they do laundry!

[Little Evil]

It's not gambling if there's absolutely no chance of winning like any claw machine I've ever seen. 

[WTV]

My kids are addicted to them but I enforce a 2 turn maximum and move them on somewhere else. 
I am surprised that they have been banned. 

 

[QuotaMan]

Still have claw machines in various Pattaya malls including Central Festival.

[JamesFerris]

On 18/09/2019 at 09:36, tuga said:

Well I heard some machine models has the "anti-win" and others if you know correctly its always a win, I heard some dude went to this machines and made a living of it selling the toys out of it somewhere in America I think? still this was always been a scam but still fun so who cares its not like you would spend crazy money on it 

That's what makes it gambling.  On a typical one of these machines (there are 100's of models), you can set the potentiometer, dip switch, or whatever internal settings to determine the "strength" of the claw grip.  Perhaps every grip will be strong enough to win a prize.  Perhaps every 1 in 5.  Maybe every 1 in 50.  Combine this with natural variation in skill of what appears to be a simple task, and boom - big money maker.  

Arguably, if the claw had a legitimate grip every time, it would be purely a game of skill - and not gambling.  This is the legal justification for such machines being called gambling in jurisdictions that I've read about - the specific rationale that lead to these machines being classified as such in Thailand, I couldn't tell you.

 

Personally, I like 'em.  I won't buy some stupid stuffy for my BG, but I'll win her one from the machine.  A bit of fun really.

[joe_momma]

My recollection is that these machines can be rigged and were banned in Washington State back in the 1980s. The link above indicates WA went the gambling route (not what I recall - there were a bunch of adds in the papers asking for people with experience configuring claw machines at the time) .

https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/gambling-devices-iron-claw-machines

I'd not go the gambling route to prohibit but certainly pursue the rigged game route - that is that the player is intentionally mislead about the odds of winning.

On the other hand, since gambling is not strongly correlated with Asians ..... oh, wait, never mind, as noted in the 1860's in San Francisco that "Chinese" are inveterate gamblers ... never mind :)

 

[forcebwithu]

Grabbed this from @kgbagent's post in the Funny Pics topic.

[ronsalt]

Good, these machines can be rigged, so despite appearances, they are not skill based. https://www.vox.com/2015/4/3/8339999/claw-machines-rigged