RSSGrand Theft Auto blamed after taxi driver murdered in Thailand
By Nate Mook | Published August 4, 2008, 5:29 PM
The controversial Grand Theft Auto is once again the focus of worldwide attention, after being pulled from store shelves in Thailand following the stabbing death of a taxi driver by a student who said he was acting out a scene.
According to the Bangkok Post, 19 year-old Polwat Chinno told police he was addicted to Grand Theft Auto and that robbing and killing looked easy in the game. In GTA, players can kill a taxi driver and take his vehicle in order to escape from police.
Take-Two Interactive recently released GTA IV, selling over 6 million copies of the game in its first week of sales. Developed by Rockstar Games, GTA enables players to engage in beatings, killings, drunk driving, prostitution, and carjacking as they complete missions to move up the ladder of the criminal underworld.
But Polwat said he initially didn't intend to kill the driver, only rob him because he needed money to keep playing GTA in the local arcade. However, 54 year-old Kuan Pohkang tried to fight back with a metal bar that was stored under his seat, and Polwat then stabbed the taxi driver about 10 times.
Polwat attempted to flee in the taxi, but he had never learned how to operate a vehicle and was struggling to drive when police showed up. Police eventually convinced the student to exit the taxi and surrender, whereupon he explained the connection to GTA.
After media reports on the killing began to circulate, New Era Interactive Media, Thailand's distributor of Grand Theft Auto, asked retail stores to remove the game from sale. The company also urged arcades to take the game out of service, although it's not clear how many complied with the request.
Thailand's Culture Ministry responded by saying the murder was a wake-up call for the country to pay more attention to violent video games. According to Reuters, the ministry has pushed for video game ratings and restrictions on who can play the game in arcades.
This isn't the first time Grand Theft Auto has come under fire for its violent gameplay. A Japanese state banned the game in 2005 for being too violent and harmful for youths.
Later in 2005, Take Two and Rockstar became embroiled in a scandal over Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas after individuals discovered how to unlock sexually explicit scenes in the game. The company was forced to reissue the game after it was pulled from store shelves for two months due to the so-called "Hot Coffee" scandal.
The FTC said it would investigate Take-Two over the hidden scenes in GTA: San Andreas (the two sides later settled), while a group of Senators including Hillary Clinton (D - N.Y.) pushed for legislation that would make it illegal to sell violent video games to minors. California promptly banned the sale of such games to individuals younger than 18.
The city of Los Angeles and a group of angry shareholders sued Rockstar Games and Take-Two in early 2006. Violent games including GTA were blamed later in the year for a shooting spree at a German school. Take-Two ended up modifying its Manhunt 2 game last year following controversy about the title's intense violence that earned it an "Adults Only" rating. Rockstar's "Bully" game was banned from Brazil in April.
Critics of the growing pressure against violent games like Grand Theft Auto say there has been no specific connection made between playing such games and an increase in violent behavior. They also say legislation is unnecessary and unconstitutional, with parents being responsible for what games their children play.
Just think if he gets off we can all start killing. All we will loose is some time, cash and our weapon stash. LMAO
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|If only women acted out based off video games... I'd love to see some hot volleyball playing chicks in skimpy bikinis acting out DOA Xtreme... :)
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|Take two just made a boatload of money from the publicity...I bet they are totally enjoying this.
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|One's inability to grasp the difference between fantasy and reality is not the fault of any game, but much deeper, far more serious mental issues.
Friends/relatives of this individual *failed* to notice or act on this persons inability to differentiate fiction from reality. They could have gotten him help.
Oh!
...and one more thing!
Mmmmmm... Public caning.
They can try to pin this on a video game, but the responsibility lies with him and those who knew him.
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|Yes, it's his problem.
It would be nice if we had an entertainment industry that wasn't based around violence though.
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|You're kidding, right?
Violence, horror, thrill-seeking....all human nature.
schadenfreude: a malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others.
We all have it to varying degrees. It's part of our genetic psychological makeup and it'd be extremely stupid of any industry not to capitalize on that when it can be done without actually *causing* harm.
The problem is that some idiots who cannot take responsibility for their own actions, and are not mentally stable chose to blame said industry instead of their own failures as a member of the species.
I offer this humble solution that will please all parties involved: Let the "player" experience the violent conclusion of the game as publicly as possible.
We get our "schadenfreude" and he gets to play the game for the rest of his life. (even if it only lasts but mere seconds...)
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|wow, does this mean that IRL I can go around killing anyone who i deem to be an enemy or a gang of us can go after a boss like in World or Warcraft?
Sheesh, like the above poster said VERY well, it is NOT the fault of any game, but a deeper issue with a person themselves, inability to seperate reality from fantasy.. if you think the games you play on the pc or console are real life then they need to lock you up and run some voltage through your sick brain until it starts firing right
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|No, I'm not kidding.
I see no reason for the glamourising of virtual violence. I'm not actively against it, it's just my personal view.
There is never a good reason to fight or kill, be it in the real or the virtual world.
Yeah, sure I've played these games and watched many films and enjoyed most of them. I just wouldn't be sad to see the end of it either.
But again, that's my view, and if people have opposing views it's not my place to stop them.
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|Agreed. The only thing GTA games ever made me want to do was go outside, because they get extremely boring after about a half hour.
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|It is interesting however to see how much enjoyment the public derives acting out these illegal and violent activities, based on the commercial success of the game. One can only conclude humans are scum when they can get away with it.
Besides, the activities of the guy as published outline so many idiocies that one asks oneself if Thailand shouldn't review the standards of their educational system (assuming 'student' means he was admitted to university).
All in all a real shame. Despite lots of negative press in recent years Thailand is a beautiful country with many kind and gentle people.
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|and as pc_fool demonstrates this inability...
still nobody cares...
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|*YAWN*
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|This is a joke. How often do you see alcohol-related deaths, fatal shootings and people dying from cancer due to smoking? Why aren't any of those things pulled off shelves? They cause more harm than video games. And just because one troubled individual decides to "act out," a game is pulled from shelves? Society is seriously convoluted. It seems the only things people care about are money and convenience, regardless of consequence.
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|Who cares, it's Thailand..they have a strict moral entity there that maintains "cleanliness" amongst the people. This is not anything surprising nor shocking considering some of the other religious based restrictions already in place there. There are only two types of people who are ruining this world...the religious and the sue happy. If something isn't being pulled off the shelves because of religious reasons its because some parent is suing the company to make money off of their worthless little screw-up idiot of a child.
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|We better take pikachu away from these people as well... they may start trying to electrocute people!!!
...Such idiots.
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|Jack Thompson is gonna be all over this... Oh wait, that's right: He can't. Not anymore. Looks like the game hating fascists will have to find a new poster boy.
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|Hopefully one just as bats*** crazy as thompson. At least with him, we knew they'd never get far...
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|He's up for disbarrment in the USA. I'm sure if there was enough of a crackdown against this game in Thailand, he'd consider seeing what he could do to be considered a "friend of the court" or whatever equivilent that country might have.
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|I have a theory that the MPAA is behind this, because video games are competitors to movies, and this never happens when movies come out.
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|lol, though it would be somewhat amusing if there was a rash of "home made smiley faces" now that The Dark Knight is out.
Why so serious?
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|this is true!! I banged my girlfriend last night until she squirted! I blame it on the porn movie I watch! :O
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|In your dreams! You banged Rosie Palm that's about it! If she's truly your girlfriend you don't get on a forum like this and brag about it! NO CLASS dreamer!!!!!
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|Relax buddy, maybe one day you'll get laid too.
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|Over 6 million sold and people cause an uproar over one incident where someone had to put the blame on something other than themselves?
Bad parents have a much greater influence over their kids behavior and statistically, it would be much higher than than the 0.000001% of issues that GTA causes.
Where did he get the knife from? Why not blame the manufacturer for developing a weapon that kills? .... and the BS keeps rolling...
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|It's *always* someone else's fault.
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|You don't play life like you do video games. Sheesh. Did he expect to find a game controller instead of a steering wheel?
The problem is with him, not the game. I don't like violent games like that; however, if he hadn't even been playing this game, he probably would have found another way to be violent.
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|This person was 19, an adult. A complete idiot but an adult none the less. So doesn't look like not selling these games to kids (which they dont do) helps any when its 19yr olds that are going around stabbing people and can't even operate a vehicle. This person deserves a death sentence, not only did he take a life of someone more qualified and more of a contributor to society but he feels he can, at the age of 19, blame a video game for his actions. World is better off without these type of useless individuals.
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|Obviously he was severely retarded. Figure that he couldn't even drive... was he looking for the UP ARROW in the steering wheel?
It's definitely not about videogames. Whoever does such things has serious problems.
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|I agree with you. Its pretty pathetic that they would blame it on a game. The kid probably would have still killed someone, he was obviously psychotic.
Video games don't make people kill people. Bad parenting and/or psychosis makes people kill people.
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|Retarded were the authorities which took the game out of the streets because of that crazy boy...
A sad story, but... His mental disorder is not directly related to the game
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