Industry experts agree that a legalized Thailand casino industry now looks likely to become a reality, but have cast doubts on its ability to implement a regulatory framework strong enough to attract the world’s largest operators.
Despite the likes of Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts having expressed interest in the Thai market, Spectrum Gaming Group’s Senior VP Asia, Paul Bromberg, said Wednesday that recent attempts to legislate for medical marijuana – which instead wound up legalizing marijuana use nationwide – showed that government lacked the will to do the hard yards when it came to developing an internationally respectable regulatory system.
“The simple answer is no,” Bromberg told an audience of industry peers at the G2E Asia: Singapore conference when asked whether the Thai government had the will or ability to put in place the sort of regulatory system required for international investment.
“Clearly Thailand needs to find more money, more revenue for the tourism industry, but the bottom line is they are not very good at planning ahead for the long term.
“In terms of regulation, you only need to look at the debacle of the recent legislation around the legalization of marijuana. The basis of that was quite good – legalize it for medical purposes only – but the legislation they sent through was pretty much carte blanche legalization of marijuana across the country and now people are complaining, they are up in arms.
“As far as casinos are concerned, most people are in favor because it might make money for the country. That’s fair enough but they don’t understand the regulatory government will that needs to be imposed for the industry to be successful. I don’t think politicians understand that. Maybe business will understand that and they can work together but I think it will be a long drawn out process.
“It may be that we see casinos in Thailand before MGM opens its casino in Japan in 2029 but what kind of casino that is, I have my doubts.”
Despite this, Bromberg said he expects casino legislation, in whatever form it might take, to become a reality given the clear bipartisan support it had garnered from all major political parties.
“If you can legalize marijuana you can legalize casinos and if they want to do it they can do it fairly quickly,” he said. “Nobody knows the future but it will happen sooner rather than later.”
Daniel Cheng, former SVP of Development for Hard Rock International, agreed casino legislation in Thailand now appears a mere formality although he suggested the Sands, MGMs and Wynns of the world would likely see enough in the legislation to bid for a license.
“We can’t discount the fact that the extraordinary [government] committee [to discuss casino legislation] has, since December last year, had two dozen meetings collectively, so the will is very clear,” he said.
“I think there is a difference between the legislation itself and the implementation, so I think the Thai government would be able to invent a legislation that is of a standard high enough that international investors would be compliant with their home jurisdictions to invest in Thailand. But then the reality itself when it finally opens, just like cannabis, is another story.”
Speaking on another panel at the G2E Asia Special Edition: Singapore conference, MGM Resorts President Global Development Ed Bowers acknowledged his company is keeping a close eye on Thailand but made it clear that only one of the five potential IR locations being mooted, Bangkok, would be suitable for a company of its size.
As previously reported by IAG, the House committee studying the feasibility of legalizing casinos in Thailand has submitted a plan to develop five casinos nationwide – one in each of its five regions including Bangkok.
Thailand remains one of only three ASEAN nations without legal casinos, alongside the Muslim-majority nations of Indonesia and Brunei, although it has been estimated that as many as half of its adult population gambles via illegal means. With a population of almost 70 million, Thailand is the world’s 20th most populous country.
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