Thailand withdraws Grand Theft Auto IV

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Thailand withdraws
Grand Theft Auto IV

After a teenager confesses to murdering a Bangkok taxi driver New Era Interactive, the biggest video game publisher in Thailand, has told retailers to stop selling Grand Theft Auto IV.

An 18-year-old high school student is accused of stabbing the cab driver to death by trying to copy a scene from the game.

Thai newspapers say the teenager was arrested while trying to steer a cab backwards out of a Bangkok street with the driver still in the back seat.

The teenager, who could face the death penalty if found guilty. is said to have confessed to stealing the taxi and killing the 54-year-old driver after he fought back.

Police Captain Veerarit Pipatanasak said: "He wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game.

"He wanted money to play the game. His parents, who work as civil servants, did not have enough money to give him."

The Culture Ministry in Thailand has recently been asking for tougher regulation of games like Grand Theft Auto with stricter age ratings and restrictions on the hours that people can play games in arcades.

Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the ministry's Cultural Surveillance Centre, said: "This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse. Today it is a cab driver, but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner."