Thai Playing Cards Manufacturing Factory

1488 Nakhornchaisri Rd., Dusit, Bangkok 10300   www.playingcard.or.th

Thailand's Playing Cards Manufacturing Factory remains under the Finance Ministry's remit, a state enterprise that traces its roots back more than 70 years, when authorities considered the production of playing cards important enough to national security for the state to take a direct role. The factory in Bangkok produces over 400,000 decks of cards per month. Its cards are sold nationwide under brand names such as Lucky 555, Vegas Gold and Winner No. 02. The bulk of the factory's work is traditional Thai and Chinese cards, including pai jeen si see (four-coloured Chinese cards) and the thin, rectangular pai Thai cards.

Above: Thai 'Pai' playing cards, made by the Playing Cards Manufacturing Factory, Bangkok, Thailand. Packs are shipped wholesale in packets of eight decks; the label shown right is from the outer wrapper. The image shown below is a detail from the security seal from the outer wrapper, showing the factory logo and some text overprinted in red.   [Click on images to zoom.]

Although the factory in Bangkok produces over 400,000 decks per month, the playing card market is led by global players such as Japan's Angel Playing Cards and Belgium's Carta Mundi, both of which can produce cards at prices lower than the Thai enterprise thanks to better technology and scale. Card playing is regulated under the law to outfits playing traditional Thai and Chinese games, poker or rummy, although illegal casinos flourish despite sporadic police crackdowns. Illegal gambling dens more often than not use Chinese-manufactured cards smuggled into the country. To a novice, it seems incomprehensible that demand is so high for playing cards. But gamblers are a suspicious lot and often demand changes of the deck after just one or two bad hands or after spotting even the slightest imperfections that could be used to tip off a savvy opponent.

The factory's traditional Thai and Chinese cards still sell well, with growth of 4-5% per year and demand of about 300,000 decks per month, or three-quarters of total production. Card sales are quite separate from the economic cycle. Even at the worst of the economic crisis, sales continue to stay steady, with most cards sold during the New Year and Chinese New Year holidays. The factory has branched out in recent years to printing booklets, brochures and cards.

Above: 'Lucky 555' 100% all plastic poker size playing cards, made by the Playing Cards Manufacturing Factory, Bangkok, Thailand. The Ace of Spades has the Manufacturing Company logo in the centre, and the 2 Jokers and the outside box carry the inscription "The Playing Cards Factory Excise Department" which refers to the Playing Card factory being part of Thailand's Finance Ministry. The cards are presented in a plastic case sealed with a security seal, inside a cardboard outer sleeve/box.