Entertainment
Thailand’s Entertainment Complex Bill continues to make its way through legislative channels. It will return to the cabinet in March, then advance to parliament.
The draft bill, approved by the Thailand cabinet in January, lays out a framework for casino resorts in up to five locations around the country.
The Singapore-style “entertainment complexes” – up to five to start – would include hotels, entertainment centres, meeting facilities and theme parks as well as casinos.
The Council of State, a governmental advisory body that has just completed its review of the bill, supports a provision limiting casinos to 10% of total floor space.
But big-picture details, such as the number of resorts and their locations, are “still unclear”, Atavit Suwanpakdee, chairman of an advisory board to the Thailand minister of industry, told the Bangkok Post.
An online gambling component is also on the table. Digital economy and society minister Prasert Jantararuangtong told the Post that authorising online gambling would “regulate underground operations, bringing them into the legal framework and ensuring proper taxation”.
A two-week public comment period on igaming will end on 1 March.
Critics of the bill warn of the social harms that can accompany casino gambling.
Thanakorn Khomkrit, secretary general of the Stop Gambling Foundation, said the bill is too vague.
“Amending a bill is similar to writing a blank cheque,” he said. “The council’s law-making process is now in question for me. [It is unclear] whether the council has made the law strict or loose.”
Chittawan Chanagul, economics lecturer at Bangkok’s Kasetsart University, said casinos in developing countries have been known to bring “crisis levels of corruption”.
She pointed to the Philippines, where offshore gaming operations (known as POGOs) allegedly led to “money laundering, murder, rape [and] ransom”. Last year, Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr banned the industry and ordered operators to leave the country.
Supporters emphasise the financials
Supporters, of course, talk up the potential benefits.
A Citigroup report cited by the Singapore Business Times said an established Thai gaming industry could haul in up to $9.1 billion (310 billion Thai baht/£7.2 billion/€8.7 billion) in revenue per year. That would make Thailand the third most profitable gaming market in the world after Macau and Las Vegas.
The bill will return to the Thailand cabinet for a second look by 4 March. From there, it will proceed to parliament for further deliberation.
Read More
Marjorie Preston