Thailand’s legalized casino plans remain a divisive issue with members of the government’s coalition partner Bhumjaithai stating its opposition.
According to a report by The Bangkok Post, Bhumjaithai Party secretary-general Chaichanok Chidchob told reporters after a meeting with the rest of the coalition this week party members, as well as opposition Democrat parties, had expressed disagreement over four key points on the recently finalized casino bill.
The parties, Chaichanok said, do not believe legal casinos will resolve the issue of illegal gambling and may cause more gambling problems across the board.
They also doubt that the financial benefits do not justify the level of investment required, that Thai tourism is already strong and does not need the added boost of integrated casino resorts and that the casino bill does not detail how Thai workers will secure jobs in such resorts.
Chaichana Detdecho, deputy secretary-general of the Democrat Party, also questioned whether Thai IRs would be able to generate the same growth as in places like Singapore and Macau.
“The Democrat Party will not support this bill,” Chaichana said.
Thailand’s Council of State earlier this month released the draft casino bill with a call for public feedback. The bill outlines plans to develop large-scale entertainment venues with casinos in locations to be determined by the Thai government. It also proposes the establishment of a venue policy panel led by the Prime Minister and the creation of a regulatory body. Such entertainment venues would be operated by private companies which must have paid-up capital of at least TBH 10 billion (US$285 million).
It is understood the Thai cabinet previously recommended that casino legislation include a stipulation that the gaming areas in legalized integrated resorts should not exceed 5% of the total project area, with the remainder to be utilized for complementary hotel and entertainment offerings. It also called for the projects to be joint investments between the government and private operators, which could follow a concession model similar to that utilized in Macau.
While the exact number and locations of such IRs has yet to be determined, everywhere from Bangkok and surrounding areas to the likes of Pattaya, Phuket, Rayong and Chiang Mai have been proposed.
A recent note from Maybank claimed that Thailand could open its first IRs as early as 2029, which would result in the Southeast Asian nation realizing legal casino gaming ahead of Japan where MGM Resorts International’s US$10 billion IR development in Osaka isn’t slated for completion until at least 2030.
Brokerage CLSA has stated that a legalized Thai casino market could generate annual gross gaming revenues of US$15.1 billion in the long-term, making it the third largest market globally based on current GGR levels.
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