Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing poker in Thailand and it seems, honestly this is one of those times where probably for me in a short-term or long-term way this development is probably not particularly good. For those folks who know me, who have been watching the channel for a while, you may know my background. I actually dealt poker for a rather prolonged period of time, especially in law school. It was the one thing that the former acting Prime Minister of Thailand, then Interior Minister was doing that I thought was kind of positive was he had reclassified poker as a sport because it is competitive and then it was looking like, especially in light of some things that Anutin did in his prior iteration as Interior Minister might auger well for the possibility of seeing poker legalized in Thailand. Well it looks like unequivocally that's a no-go, at least for the rest of this government, the presumptive another hundred odd days or whatever we have left until the presumptive dissolution of the House and calling of elections. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the print edition of Bangkok Post, quoting directly: "Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has signed an Order banning poker and sports-related card gambling nationwide, reversing a policy introduced by the previous Administration. The premier signed Interior Ministry Order No. 3179/2568 revoking permission for gambling activities involving poker and similar sports themed card games. The directive aligns with the government's firm stance against promoting gambling in any form." I think that's important to point out. It looked like they might have been making a distinction between competitive cards like poker, what I would call; you are basically not House betting, you're not betting against the House, you are betting against other players or wagering against other players in a competitive cards’ kind of environment. Yeah, they're not making that distinction anymore. Quoting further: "The order follows Mr. Anutin's policy address to Parliament on September 29, in which he highlighted a nationwide crackdown on illegal gambling and rejected the legalization of gambling businesses, including entertainment complexes incorporating betting activities. The policy also targets gambling disguised as sports" - I like the language there. Now that said, it does describe what's happening here. There is a political stance being taken that no we are not distinguishing between sporting kinds of cards versus betting kind of cards or something of this nature. No, they are not doing that. They are reversing all of that analysis; that's important to note. Whether you agree with it, it disagree with it, whatever, I'll get to my thoughts on it in a moment; this is what is happening - Quoting further: "such as poker tournaments. To ensure consistency with this policy, the Interior Ministry invoked Section 17 of the Gambling Act BE 2478 to cancel its previous directive that had permitted certain gambling activities. The new Order takes immediate effect."

So that unequivocally tells you what's going on with regard to that. Quoting further: "In early August, acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai issued an order legalizing poker games for money under controlled conditions, with the aim of paving the way for international-level tournaments to be held in the country." And look, I agreed with that. I still do think it was not a bad idea. I think the notion that Thailand could have poker without legalized gambling per se is possible. I think it's possible to not have, the two things can be mutually exclusive of one another. That being said, this government doesn't seem to agree. Quoting further: "The move was intended to promote poker as a sport, though the government insisted it was not a blanket legalisation. Mr. Phumtham, also serving as Interior Minister at the time, described the decision as "sensitive and complex", requiring careful legal review."

Yeah, look it was parsing out poker which does have, its inherent nature is different than like blackjack where you are playing against the house, you're playing against other players. It is competitive. I think it's fair to call poker a sport. It's competitive, it's a competition. It's not gambling in the truest sense of the term when you are looking at it through the prism of like house-gambling versus poker. 

Now that said, look all things considered, my thoughts on gambling and legalization thereof in Thailand has really evolved a lot in the last 18 months. I went from kind of positive ambivalence where I was kind of, I can see both sides, I can see why Thailand wants to keep it illegal, but I think overall it could have some benefits to when we saw it almost go legal but it looked like it was basically going to only auger to the benefit of foreigners or foreign influencers and we were only going to see detriment to Thailand and Thai people, and that was when I started saying, "hey is this the right thing for Thailand?" With poker I still think it would probably be better overall; I think it could be a good thing for Thailand, poker itself.

Now that said, I'm not unable to step away or if you will step out of my own shoes, and recognise that I have my own internal biases and that for me there could be some benefits to Poker, poker legalisation, that might not exist for other people, and I can also see that when you take an objective look at all of this, it is probably better overall for the country to just not get into it; there's something to be said for just, "you know what? keep it illegal, let's move on." It's just not something that comports really with the philosophy and ethos of being Thai. It's just not something that at this time is going to be legalized. It makes some sense to me. I can understand where they are coming from in not wanting to do this. Again when I look at my own internal biases, I can see where my own self-interests might be overcoming my objectivity on whether or not this would be good for the country. So all things considered, it make sense to me. I'm actually kind of happy to see a final decision on it that just says, “hey, no, no gambling; poker is gambling; this is what it is, it's not a sporting thing”. Just settled. So I'm actually pretty okay with that and I doubt this is going to evolve too much. That said, as the issue of gaming particularly may evolve over time here in Thailand from a legal standpoint, we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel accordingly.