Hot Thai coffee, anyone?<br />
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In response to the murder of a Bangkok taxi driver by a 19 year-old student, Thai authorities officially banned sales of Rockstar's controversial Grand Theft Auto franchise on Tuesday. "GTA is banned mainly because of its obscene content -- under the criminal law article 287 that prohibits reproduction, distribution or possession of such material," police spokesman Ruangsak Jaritake told Agence France-Presse. "The police are empowered to immediately arrest shopkeepers if they find any GTA games on sale."<br />
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Any storekeepers caught stocking or selling a copy of any GTA game face a fine of up to 6000 baht ($135 U.S.) and up to three years in prison. Online retailers face even stricter penalties of up to 100,000 baht ($3000 U.S.) and five years behind bars.<br />
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According to police reports, 19 year-old Polwat Chino admitted that GTA inspired him to steal the cab and kill the driver. He was arrested after he was caught trying to drive a cab backwards down a Bangkok street with the wounded cab driver slumped in the back seat.<br />
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"He wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game," Bangkok police Captain Veerarit Pipatanasak told Reuters.<br />
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Exactly which version of GTA Chino was playing is unknown, though in a statement, game distributor New Era Interactive Media seemingly exempted the most recent entry, Grand Theft Auto IV, as apparently it has yet to be imported.<br />
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"We have stopped selling Grand Theft Auto and inform all legal vendors to withdraw the game from their shelves," they said. "The company will not import GTA 4 to distribute in Thailand."<br />
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The ban comes as Thailand's Culture Ministry has been pushing for stronger regulation of violent video games. "This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse," Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the Cultural Surveillance Centre, said in the Reuters report. "Today it is a cab driver, but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner."<br />
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Thailand joins a growing list of countries struggling with the controversial nature of the GTA franchise. Earlier this year, Australia and New Zealand released an edited version of GTA IV to meet regional classification standards. New Zealand has since rescinded that stance and has released the unedited version game under the strict R18 rating.<br />
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As of May 31, Grand Theft Auto IV is the best-selling game of the year, pushing over 8.5 million units worldwide. --Yahoo Entertainment section<br />
<br />
<br />
In response to the murder of a Bangkok taxi driver by a 19 year-old student, Thai authorities officially banned sales of Rockstar's controversial Grand Theft Auto franchise on Tuesday. "GTA is banned mainly because of its obscene content -- under the criminal law article 287 that prohibits reproduction, distribution or possession of such material," police spokesman Ruangsak Jaritake told Agence France-Presse. "The police are empowered to immediately arrest shopkeepers if they find any GTA games on sale."<br />
<br />
Any storekeepers caught stocking or selling a copy of any GTA game face a fine of up to 6000 baht ($135 U.S.) and up to three years in prison. Online retailers face even stricter penalties of up to 100,000 baht ($3000 U.S.) and five years behind bars.<br />
<br />
According to police reports, 19 year-old Polwat Chino admitted that GTA inspired him to steal the cab and kill the driver. He was arrested after he was caught trying to drive a cab backwards down a Bangkok street with the wounded cab driver slumped in the back seat.<br />
<br />
"He wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game," Bangkok police Captain Veerarit Pipatanasak told Reuters.<br />
<br />
Exactly which version of GTA Chino was playing is unknown, though in a statement, game distributor New Era Interactive Media seemingly exempted the most recent entry, Grand Theft Auto IV, as apparently it has yet to be imported.<br />
<br />
"We have stopped selling Grand Theft Auto and inform all legal vendors to withdraw the game from their shelves," they said. "The company will not import GTA 4 to distribute in Thailand."<br />
<br />
The ban comes as Thailand's Culture Ministry has been pushing for stronger regulation of violent video games. "This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse," Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the Cultural Surveillance Centre, said in the Reuters report. "Today it is a cab driver, but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner."<br />
<br />
Thailand joins a growing list of countries struggling with the controversial nature of the GTA franchise. Earlier this year, Australia and New Zealand released an edited version of GTA IV to meet regional classification standards. New Zealand has since rescinded that stance and has released the unedited version game under the strict R18 rating.<br />
<br />
As of May 31, Grand Theft Auto IV is the best-selling game of the year, pushing over 8.5 million units worldwide. --Yahoo Entertainment section<br />
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