Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Apparently, we left Thailand just in time.

Just kidding. This is retarded. Showing stupidity knows no borders.

Read through for the real kicker.

Hit & Run > Grand Theft Auto (the Game) No Longer Legal in Thailand - Reason Magazine:
"From AFP, a standard-issue story in which government officials link video games to crime and then order a crackdown:
Thai authorities banned the Grand Theft Auto computer game on Tuesday, after a disturbed teenager allegedly killed a taxi driver in a copycat crime.

Following news earlier Tuesday that the game's distributor would no longer stock the game, Thai police told AFP they had officially banned it because of 'obscene' content.

So far, so good. Police will work with 'the Culture Ministry' (brrr) to arrest vendors of the game, who can be put in jail for three years and fined up to $180 dollars (?); online vendors can get five years and a $3,000 fine because it's really vastly more evil to sell things via the intertubes.

But here's the weird part of the story:
An 18-year-old high school student has been charged with robbery and possession of a weapon, and could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.

Police said the teenager had become incensed when he could not afford to play the game, which encourages gamers to kill and steal cars in order to accrue points.

So he didn't get to play the game and he still pulled off a copycat crime? That's some powerful video game..."

Still working on paring down 400+ pictures I took in Thailand to a reasonable amount to upload and blog. By this weekend, I think. Plus, I have to see what the internet has been up to in my absence. No good, apparently. And nonsense.

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