Early this month 50 police and military personnel stormed an upstairs room in the infamous beach resort of Pattaya. But rather than a den of iniquity, they found members of the Jomtien and Pattaya Bridge Club, which comprises foreign retirees. Officers nevertheless arrested all 32 people, 26 of them men. The club meets three times a week in a room above a restaurant, according to the PattayaOne website.

However, since no money changed hands, the players – mainly British with some Dutch and Scandinavian nationals, including a 84-year-old Dutch woman – were arrested under a Thai law from 1935 that says no one can possess more than 120 playing cards at a time.

Police seized cards, computers and a book of bridge results as “evidence”. Another alleged offence related to the fact that the cards did not have an official government seal on the boxes.

The raid quickly became the talk of the town. Many people have voiced concern over what they say was the lack of evidence to warrant arresting the players, and the fact that bridge players is considered a sport – not gambling.

Shortly after, social media outlets were awash with negative comments. Some people said the raid had tarnished the image of the country, particularly at a time when the government is promoting tourism and sport.

On pantip.com, a popular Thai-language discussion forum, the subject was heavily discussed. A varsity student under the pseudonym “Neung Van Der Waals”, who has been a bridge player for five years, created a forum post on the website that read: “Bridge is not gambling. A case study for the arrest of farangs playing bridge in Pattaya“.

He said: “I can’t believe this is happening in Thailand. It has really tarnished the tourism atmosphere in our country. Bridge, like the other mind sports such as chess and Go, is based on rules and competition like other sports and is available to older people, to whom it has brought a sense of inclusion and community.

“Bridge is a popular card game recognised as a sport. Since cards are necessarily required for bridge, therefore it’s reasonable to have cards when playing bridge. This is clearly legal in line with the Gambling Act in 1935.”

He explained that a book was used to record scores in bridge and not to record money. A calculator-like device seized in the raid was called a “bridgemate” and was used to record results of each round, he said.

To make it clear that playing bridge is not gambling, photos of people playing the game were cut from local newspapers and displayed on pantip.com forum with the caption: “Thailand hosted the 37th Asean Bridge Club Championships at Montien Hotel Bangkok last December.

Thailand captured gold medals in the senior team and the junior team events. General Yuthasak Sasiprapha, president of the Olympic Committee of Thailand, presided over the closing ceremony and congratulated the gold winners on their success on the same occasion.”

If playing bridge is gambling, such a competition could not be held here. Further, the Thailand University Bridge Club was established to promote playing bridge at all varsities and no activity has been reported concerning gambling.

However, those arrested in Pattaya were held for 12 hours before being bailed for Bt5,000 each.

But none were charged after bridge league president Khunying Chodchoy Sophonpanich, a civic activist who is also a member of Thailand’s most prominent banking family, stepped in to provide further information on bridge and how it is played for points and not money.

Aside from being played among local universities and contested at the SEA Games and Asian Games, bridge, like chess, could be included in the 2020 Olympics. A decision on that is expected to be made next year.

There seems to be no clear-cut answer on whether bridge is sport, as different governing bodies have different views. Sport England, for example, said a sport needs more exertion than “sitting at home reading a book”.