China’s President Xi Jinping is said to have quizzed Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra about her government’s plans to legalize casino gaming during a meeting between the two last week.
According to The Bangkok Post, Paetongtarn revealed some details of the exchange during a press briefing on Tuesday, telling reporters that President Xi had sought more information on Thailand’s entertainment complex bill and warning that legalized casinos could lead to more criminal activity and social issues.
The Thai PM said she explained that the vision was to develop integrated entertainment complexes featuring hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities, with the casinos themselves to take up less than 10% of the total floor space.
She also told President Xi that further studies would be carried out before an entertainment complex bill currently working its way through parliament is approved.
Doubling down on the need for a legal casino industry, Paetongtarn told reporters, “We have to admit that some illegal gambling dens are still operating in the country. The money changing hands in those gambling dens does not benefit the country. If they are legalized, revenue can be collected from them and used for national development projects.”
Thailand’s entertainment complex bill is currently being reviewed by the Council of State, which was last month given a 50-day deadline until 6 March to forward it onto the House of Representatives.
The bill states that entertainment complexes are to be operated by private companies with a minimum paid-up capital of at least THB 10 billion (US$285 million) and calls 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, recent reports suggest five licenses may be issued including two in Bangkok.
Among the global IR operators to have expressed interest in Thailand are Las Vegas Sands, Genting Singapore, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Resorts and MGM Resorts – the latter revealing last year that any bid it makes for a Thai IR license would be done through its Macau subsidiary, MGM China.
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