A proposal to cancel snooker's status as a Class B gambling game for the first time in 89 years will be submitted to the interior minister after gaining advocacy from the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand, the Interior Ministry, the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) and the House committee on sports.
The Billiard Sports Association of Thailand recently attended a meeting held by the House of Representatives' committee on sports to discuss the move to remove snooker from the Gambling Act 1935's list of Class B gambling activities.
Sunthorn Charumon, chairman of the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand, said the game has had gambling status since 1935 even though the SAT recognised it as a sport in 1985 as snooker competitions were included in tournaments like the SEA Games, the Asian Games, the Asian Snooker Championship and the World Amateur Snooker Championship.
Its gambling status has been preventing people under 20 from honing their skills in the sport, which is in conflict with the SAT's policy of producing more youth athletes, Mr Sunthorn said.
At the meeting, the Interior Ministry, the SAT, the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand and the House committee unanimously agreed that snooker should be removed from the Gambling Act.
They also agreed on a plan to send a proposal for its removal to Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul for approval, Mr Sunthorn said.
The chairman of the House committee on sports, Parinya Roekrai, promised to take the proposal to Mr Anutin.