CityNews – Claw machines, used by children and youths to take a chance at picking up toys and dolls are apparently spreading in Chiang Mai and are being investigated for drawing children and adults into the arena of gambling.
On May 7th, Chiang Mai Province issued an urgent order to open an investigation into claw machines that have been getting more popular throughout Chiang Mai. Targeted areas are shopping malls and places near educational institutions. At one of the shopping malls, claw machines were temporarily closed. These claw machines are allegedly scamming juveniles and parents as the odds of actually wining a doll is unacceptably low. The operators of these machines reportedly earn up to 400,000 baht a month and police are allegedly receiving money under the table for allowing these operators.
At an unnamed mall where police visited to investigate the issue, claw machines were temporarily closed. The mall’s representative stated that they were unaware of the issue from these claw machine operators but promised to have them removed.