Technology Thailand
Where Thais and technology clash
by Jesada Chandraprasert, Thailand
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Thai Ministry of Health's 10 most dangerous video games (yeah, you read that right)
Aug 6, 2008 23:16No, these games are not booby trapped nor do they contain anthrax powder. These are the games which the Thai Ministry of Health has put on their watch list. Yes, the MINISTRY OF HEALTH and not the ICT Ministry! They include:
1- GTA-Grand Theft Auto
2- Manhunt
3- Scarface
4- 50 Cent : Bulletproof
5- 300 : The Video Game
6- The Godfather
7- Killer 7
8- Resident Evil 4
9- God of War
10- Hitman : Blood Money
So, the gist of the story is that a "good boy" gets up and kills a taxi driver for his money. He tells police that he wanted the money to go out (probably partying at night). Anyway, it turns out that this kid likes to play GTA and his parents, who are conveniently not always around have concluded that it must be the game's influence that caused their good boy to go astray.
I know, you must be thinking "same poopoo, different country". I couldn't agree more! People tend to find different things to blame for things that go wrong in their lives. This country is no exception. Crimes were blamed on TV, movies, and now games. They target violence in these media as the root of all that is wrong when a kid decides to go postal. Hmm, anyone who walks past a newsstand can tell you what you see on the front page of the Thai Rath is much more graphic than the worst of these games and movies.
Since they're bothering to make a list, don't forget to include Temple Fair favorites like Whack a Mole that promotes animal cruelty, bumper cars for encouraging bad driving habits, shooting the water gun into the clown's mouth which teaches you to use guns, and a plethora of other "violent" carnival games. Sheesh! Like those idiots who spill HOT coffee on themselves and sue the store or smoke so much that they develop a terminal disease and decide to sue the tobacco companies. Be accountable for your own actions, people.
Come on parents. Get your asses up from in front of that TV set and turn of those channel seven soaps! Take some interest in your children and what they do. You turn a blind eye when you need to be involved and then look for something or someone to blame when something goes wrong.
Anyway, here is the link to the MOPH's website and its original press release (in Thai).
- Talkback
-
jackthompson says...
As John Adams famously said in a criminal trial resulting from the Boston Massacre: "Facts are stubborn things."
Here, then, are some facts which render this above opinion piece absurd:
The American Psychological Association found in August 2005 that violent video games lead to increased aggression by teens who play them.
Secondly, the US military using violent video games to a) suppress the inhibition to kill and b) to provide killing scenarios to the trainees. This has the same effect with civilians, obviously.
Thirdly, the US Supreme Court in striking down the juvenile death penalty in Roper v. Simmons in March 2005 concluded that teens process violent information in a different part of the brain than do adults, which leads to copycatting by those teens.
Fourthly, Harvard University (you've heard of that at CNET, right?) has done brain scan studies (MRI's) that show that kids process violent games in the amygdala, and that leads to copycatting behaviors.
Fifthly, the video game industry puts age labels on games, and then ignores them, for a reason, sir. It's an admission that the violent games like the above you list are HARMFUL to kids. Their play creates a public safety hazard.
In 2004, the Gallup Poll people (one of the most respected pollsters in America) found that teen boys who played Grand Theft Auto were twice as likely to engage in an act of reported violence than those who did not.
Wish that statistic away, if you like.
Finally, but not exhaustively, what this kid did in Thailand is not an isolated incident. These copycat killings tied to video games are occurring all over the planet. Ever hear of Columbine. Ever hear of Virginia Tech. Ever hear of Erfurt, Germany? Ever hear of the DC Beltway Sniper? Ever hear of Fayette, Alabama? Ever hear of Red Lake, Minnesota?
Pretty soon some other knucklehead will respond to someone like you and ask: Ever hear of Thailand?
Let me ask you: Have you ever heard of "garbage in, garbage out"?
Of course GTA had something to do with this killing. It would be ridiculous to think otherwise. You, sir, obviously play too many video games.
Jack Thompson, Attorney, Miami, FL USA
PS: I've appeared on more than 200 national and international television shows, some of them with experts who have testified before our Congress on this video game copycat phenomenon. I do those appearances because I have expertise in this area. You, sir, have absolutely none.
You're entitled to your opinions. You're not entitled to your own set of facts.
Aug 07, 2008 06:47
As John Adams famously said in a criminal trial resulting from the Boston Massacre: "Facts are stubborn things."
Here, then, are some facts which render this above opinion piece absurd:
The American Psychological Association found in August 2005 that violent video games lead to increased aggression by teens who play them.
Secondly, the US military using violent video games to a) suppress the inhibition to kill and b) to provide killing scenarios to the trainees. This has the same effect with civilians, obviously.
Thirdly, the US Supreme Court in striking down the juvenile death penalty in Roper v. Simmons in March 2005 concluded that teens process violent information in a different part of the brain than do adults, which leads to copycatting by those teens.
Fourthly, Harvard University (you've heard of that at CNET, right?) has done brain scan studies (MRI's) that show that kids process violent games in the amygdala, and that leads to copycatting behaviors.
Fifthly, the video game industry puts age labels on games, and then ignores them, for a reason, sir. It's an admission that the violent games like the above you list are HARMFUL to kids. Their play creates a public safety hazard.
In 2004, the Gallup Poll people (one of the most respected pollsters in America) found that teen boys who played Grand Theft Auto were twice as likely to engage in an act of reported violence than those who did not.
Wish that statistic away, if you like.
Finally, but not exhaustively, what this kid did in Thailand is not an isolated incident. These copycat killings tied to video games are occurring all over the planet. Ever hear of Columbine. Ever hear of Virginia Tech. Ever hear of Erfurt, Germany? Ever hear of the DC Beltway Sniper? Ever hear of Fayette, Alabama? Ever hear of Red Lake, Minnesota?
Pretty soon some other knucklehead will respond to someone like you and ask: Ever hear of Thailand?
Let me ask you: Have you ever heard of "garbage in, garbage out"?
Of course GTA had something to do with this killing. It would be ridiculous to think otherwise. You, sir, obviously play too many video games.
Jack Thompson, Attorney, Miami, FL USA
PS: I've appeared on more than 200 national and international television shows, some of them with experts who have testified before our Congress on this video game copycat phenomenon. I do those appearances because I have expertise in this area. You, sir, have absolutely none.
You're entitled to your opinions. You're not entitled to your own set of facts.
Aug 07, 2008 06:47
tysonayt says...
Mr. Jack Thompson, do you think these school skjutningar would have happened if you could not get hold of weapons as easily as you can today in the United States.
Maybe you should focus on removing weapons from the streets instead of games.
Aug 07, 2008 08:38
Mr. Jack Thompson, do you think these school skjutningar would have happened if you could not get hold of weapons as easily as you can today in the United States.
Maybe you should focus on removing weapons from the streets instead of games.
Aug 07, 2008 08:38
Devildoll says...
Mr Jack Thompson , Ive used a computer for as long as Ive been able to , I'm 19 now , Ive played computer games since i was about 3 years old. never ever cared about the ratings , probably played.
I believe a person that commits stuff like school shootings are mentally unstable ( or whatever you call it ) they could get triggered from anything , reading a book , watching a movie and in some cases playing a game. Its not the book or the games fault someone went berserk.
If you would focus on getting parents into caring about their children and maybe make weapons less available to kids , these kinds of stuff wouldn't happen.
i don't expect you to answer since Ive seen you rarely have a good argument , Ive seen allot of debates with you. and you always point towards some study by some company no one has heard of.
//Devildoll
Aug 07, 2008 08:57
Mr Jack Thompson , Ive used a computer for as long as Ive been able to , I'm 19 now , Ive played computer games since i was about 3 years old. never ever cared about the ratings , probably played.
I believe a person that commits stuff like school shootings are mentally unstable ( or whatever you call it ) they could get triggered from anything , reading a book , watching a movie and in some cases playing a game. Its not the book or the games fault someone went berserk.
If you would focus on getting parents into caring about their children and maybe make weapons less available to kids , these kinds of stuff wouldn't happen.
i don't expect you to answer since Ive seen you rarely have a good argument , Ive seen allot of debates with you. and you always point towards some study by some company no one has heard of.
//Devildoll
Aug 07, 2008 08:57
mman74 says...
Mr. Thompson, I concur with some of your statements some of which is just plain common sense. What I object to is your sanctimonious attitude where you clearly state that you are an expert who has appeared on TV shows, claim expertise, but offer up nothing to substantiate it. You sir, profess to be an attorney (one assumes of law). How do you go about making statements such as "...the US military using violent video games to a) suppress the inhibition to kill and b) to provide killing scenarios to the trainees" as fact, and offer nothing to substantiate it. I am not saying you are wrong, but the least one does is offer references, or else you make clear that these are your own opinions.
Mr. Thompson, Homer Simpson has been on more than 200 TV shows, and I do believe that he appeared with several US presidents as well as the British prime minister too, what I am to make of the musings of him? What research beyond digesting tabloid journalism did you do on this particular Thailand killing that allows you to definitely associate and classify this incident as a "copycat killing tied to videogames". What research have you ever done on any of the incidents listed?
I have completed GTA 4, and have not once killed a single taxi driver in the game. There is absolutely no incentive in the game for attacking them, you pay them and they take you where you want quickly and efficiently - you did play the game right, or did you just read tabloid articles?
My own personal take on the Thailand incident (and I state clearly this is my own view), is that the boy was after money. He was quoted himself stating he needed money, the fact that he was doing it because he didn't have a job and the fact that he didn't get a job because he wanted to play games as opposed to just being plain lazy or being addicted to gambling or what not is just incidental. “Taxi driver killed in robbery for money”, doesn’t quite have the same Pulitzer ring does it? As for the journalist the fact that the guy said he was playing GTA, was like fuel for a scoop, a story that got reprinted all around the world. Not bad for a small newspaper journalist in Thailand, right?
We may be deemed as technical blue collar workers, and some of us do play computer games in our time-off, but a few of us actually went to college, which instills in us a propensity to actually request references and scientific sources beyond “you have heard of Harvard right” rather than accepting hypothesis, personal findings and random ramblings as fact. Mr. Thompson this is not a personal criticism - I also disapprove but to the same extent sometimes agree, with the environmentalists that go about professing the extinction of humanity is nigh and that we face mass flooding, global famine and desertification. Many of these are scientists that do offer statistical evidence, though I fully appreciate that there an alternative school of thought that believes this evidence is taken out of context, and perhaps cynically, often repeated by those with a political agenda.
Aug 07, 2008 10:53
Mr. Thompson, I concur with some of your statements some of which is just plain common sense. What I object to is your sanctimonious attitude where you clearly state that you are an expert who has appeared on TV shows, claim expertise, but offer up nothing to substantiate it. You sir, profess to be an attorney (one assumes of law). How do you go about making statements such as "...the US military using violent video games to a) suppress the inhibition to kill and b) to provide killing scenarios to the trainees" as fact, and offer nothing to substantiate it. I am not saying you are wrong, but the least one does is offer references, or else you make clear that these are your own opinions.
Mr. Thompson, Homer Simpson has been on more than 200 TV shows, and I do believe that he appeared with several US presidents as well as the British prime minister too, what I am to make of the musings of him? What research beyond digesting tabloid journalism did you do on this particular Thailand killing that allows you to definitely associate and classify this incident as a "copycat killing tied to videogames". What research have you ever done on any of the incidents listed?
I have completed GTA 4, and have not once killed a single taxi driver in the game. There is absolutely no incentive in the game for attacking them, you pay them and they take you where you want quickly and efficiently - you did play the game right, or did you just read tabloid articles?
My own personal take on the Thailand incident (and I state clearly this is my own view), is that the boy was after money. He was quoted himself stating he needed money, the fact that he was doing it because he didn't have a job and the fact that he didn't get a job because he wanted to play games as opposed to just being plain lazy or being addicted to gambling or what not is just incidental. “Taxi driver killed in robbery for money”, doesn’t quite have the same Pulitzer ring does it? As for the journalist the fact that the guy said he was playing GTA, was like fuel for a scoop, a story that got reprinted all around the world. Not bad for a small newspaper journalist in Thailand, right?
We may be deemed as technical blue collar workers, and some of us do play computer games in our time-off, but a few of us actually went to college, which instills in us a propensity to actually request references and scientific sources beyond “you have heard of Harvard right” rather than accepting hypothesis, personal findings and random ramblings as fact. Mr. Thompson this is not a personal criticism - I also disapprove but to the same extent sometimes agree, with the environmentalists that go about professing the extinction of humanity is nigh and that we face mass flooding, global famine and desertification. Many of these are scientists that do offer statistical evidence, though I fully appreciate that there an alternative school of thought that believes this evidence is taken out of context, and perhaps cynically, often repeated by those with a political agenda.
Aug 07, 2008 10:53
Jesadac says...
Hmmm, it seems that this list from the MOPH was "lifted" from Detroit Prosecutor Kym Worthy's list from last year. Thanks to gamepolitics.com and other sites for making that connection.
And to clarify, my list was a quick grab from the Ministry's press release which was reported on TV news from the major channels thus contained some incomplete version and edition designations. The link to the original press release was found and added later.
Aug 07, 2008 21:39
Hmmm, it seems that this list from the MOPH was "lifted" from Detroit Prosecutor Kym Worthy's list from last year. Thanks to gamepolitics.com and other sites for making that connection.
And to clarify, my list was a quick grab from the Ministry's press release which was reported on TV news from the major channels thus contained some incomplete version and edition designations. The link to the original press release was found and added later.
Aug 07, 2008 21:39
Jesadac says...
List updated to reflect the MOPH's official release on their website.
Aug 07, 2008 22:16
List updated to reflect the MOPH's official release on their website.
Aug 07, 2008 22:16
nido says...
hmmm...funny thing is, correct facts usually carry a lot more weight when the facts are correct.
The Gallup Poll is from 2003. You will not find one from 2004, unless they hid it very well. One thing of note involving the 2003 poll is if you read it, you will see that parts of it have been - retracted.
Also it should be known that pollsters do not generate facts, they generate what the popular opinion is. If a Gallup poll suggested that the sky was pink, I certainly would not start thinking the sky was pink.
Here I thought the military used videogames in situations so that the military can practice group tactics. I remember when "Marine Doom" was being developed. There are times when employing logistical tactics (aka an intellectual exercise and not the brainwashing described above) in a real envirionment can be difficult depending on where soldiers are stationed. The Army has a much more effective brainwashing technique called Boot Camp for dealing with making people want to shoot their fellow human beings.
As for the studies, I do find them interesting. However, I do believe that suggesting they cause a person to go on a rampage very different from "excited levels of activity in the area of the brain that controls fight or flight." I prefer my own child to stick to sports games and family games.
Truth be told, with few exceptions (like sports games - where the fantasy of having my beloved Phillies win the World Series after 1980 is just too good to pass up), I am not a fan of video games. When a video game can make me react the same way as when I read a good book, then maybe I'll play. However, I agree with the original poster that no matter what happens in life, one must deal with their own actions.
Unfortunately, we the people of this world must deal with our fellow citizens who have some twisted desire to be viewed as relevant or important n this world. One poster would use one of the Founding Fathers to tie into their point. I would suggest a more relevant comparison would be to former Senator Joe McCarthy. Or maybe comic author Jack Chick. I am sure the Senator was an expert in communism bassed entirely on how the Red Scare was handled.
video games
heavy metal
homosexuals
communists
The Jewish People
It is amazing what people would wrongfully blame instead of looking in the mirror. My best suggestions would be to not folow the lunatics who would have you blame such things and gladly take responsibility for your own actions. People who blame outside influences for your own problems usually don't care about your problems but only their own agenda, which in the past has proven very harmful to the world as a whole.
Good Night.
Aug 09, 2008 13:15
hmmm...funny thing is, correct facts usually carry a lot more weight when the facts are correct.
The Gallup Poll is from 2003. You will not find one from 2004, unless they hid it very well. One thing of note involving the 2003 poll is if you read it, you will see that parts of it have been - retracted.
Also it should be known that pollsters do not generate facts, they generate what the popular opinion is. If a Gallup poll suggested that the sky was pink, I certainly would not start thinking the sky was pink.
Here I thought the military used videogames in situations so that the military can practice group tactics. I remember when "Marine Doom" was being developed. There are times when employing logistical tactics (aka an intellectual exercise and not the brainwashing described above) in a real envirionment can be difficult depending on where soldiers are stationed. The Army has a much more effective brainwashing technique called Boot Camp for dealing with making people want to shoot their fellow human beings.
As for the studies, I do find them interesting. However, I do believe that suggesting they cause a person to go on a rampage very different from "excited levels of activity in the area of the brain that controls fight or flight." I prefer my own child to stick to sports games and family games.
Truth be told, with few exceptions (like sports games - where the fantasy of having my beloved Phillies win the World Series after 1980 is just too good to pass up), I am not a fan of video games. When a video game can make me react the same way as when I read a good book, then maybe I'll play. However, I agree with the original poster that no matter what happens in life, one must deal with their own actions.
Unfortunately, we the people of this world must deal with our fellow citizens who have some twisted desire to be viewed as relevant or important n this world. One poster would use one of the Founding Fathers to tie into their point. I would suggest a more relevant comparison would be to former Senator Joe McCarthy. Or maybe comic author Jack Chick. I am sure the Senator was an expert in communism bassed entirely on how the Red Scare was handled.
video games
heavy metal
homosexuals
communists
The Jewish People
It is amazing what people would wrongfully blame instead of looking in the mirror. My best suggestions would be to not folow the lunatics who would have you blame such things and gladly take responsibility for your own actions. People who blame outside influences for your own problems usually don't care about your problems but only their own agenda, which in the past has proven very harmful to the world as a whole.
Good Night.
Aug 09, 2008 13:15
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About Jesada Chandraprasert
A firm believer that he/she who dies with the most toys wins.
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