Yes, all the hot, hot titles all the kids are into three years ago. Curiously, Grand Theft Auto titles don't appear to be on the "banned" list. It cannot, however, be imported or distributed due to its dangerous status.

The Thai government is also spearheading a vague 90-day effort to protect impressionable youth from "dangerous games" and establish regulations for pay-to-play gaming centers that feature such titles. We wish them the best of luck in figuring out whatever the hell they think they're doing.

Thai Ministry of Culture wages war on gaming [CNET via GamePolitics]

The original press release is in Thai, which I don't read, but the Cnet Asia reporter seems to be saying the release of the list and the killing are related. Now that Thailand has decided to pull one game from shelves, what's to stop them from pulling the ten on this list, which includes God of War and 300, the game, not the movie.

Here's your full list of "dangerous games."

1- GTA

2- Man Hunt

3- Scarface

4- 50 Cent - Bullet Proof

5- 300

6- The Godfather

7- Killer 7

8- Resident Evil 4

9- God of War

10- Hitman

Thai Ministry of Health's 10 most dangerous video games (yeah, you read that right) [Cnet Asia]

According to police, the youth wanted to find out if it was as easy to rob a real taxi as it was in Grand Theft Auto. Newspapers are reporting that the teenager didn't plan to stab the driver, but only did show when he retailiated. The teen was arrested on late Saturday when he was found trying to drive the car backwards out of a Bangkok city street. The driver was found severly wounded and in the backseat. Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the ministry's Cultural Surveillance Centre, scaremongers:

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.

The police stated the boy showed, and we're quoting Reuters, "no sign of mental problems during questioning." Meaning that the mental problems were only visible when he was stabbing a taxi driver?

Thailand halts Grand Theft Auto sales after murder [Reuters] [Pic]

Angel's Tale [Official Site]

Surely that plumbing business is suffering due to huge time sink of saving that pea-brained princess (and playing soccer and baseball and dance-dancing and whatever else Mario is up to these days), as that lovable portly Italian is investing in the Thai travel sector.

Looks like he's also supplementing his income with hourly internet access and motorbike rentals. Or maybe, just maybe, someone in Thailand is less concerned about copyright infringement than they are with coming up with an original name for their fly-by-night travel shack.

Mario Travel [Flickr]