Late yesterday afternoon the Thai government announced a Press Briefing would be held on the eve of the Thai Entertainment Complex Roundtable (TECR), which is being organized by Inside Asian Gaming. The Press Briefing, to be held at the Ministry of Finance’s 150th Anniversary Building at 3pm on Wednesday 4 June, will be headlined by Julapun Amornvivat, Deputy Minister of Finance, and Suksit Srichomkwan, Deputy Secretary-General to the Prime Minister. Julapun and Suksit have been leading the charge for the Thai government in explaining entertainment complexes to the people of Thailand.
Titled “THAILAND ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX: A World-Class Experience Destination for All Thais”, the Press Briefing promises to cover the topics of “What is an Entertainment Complex – and why does Thailand need one?”
The announcement has sent local Thai media abuzz, with speculation rife about the content of the Press Briefing. Its timing, on the eve of TECR, means representatives of TECR participants Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Resorts & Entertainment and Wynn Resorts, along with the IAG team, will all be in Bangkok as the government’s Press Briefing unfolds.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has recently been urging her coalition partners to raise public awareness of the economic benefits of the Entertainment Complex Bill. Following a mobile Cabinet meeting in Nakhon Phanom province in late April, Paetongtarn said that Pheu Thai Party MPs have been assigned to engage with the public and explain the contents of the bill.
The Thai Entertainment Complex Roundtable, which gets underway this Thursday 5 June at Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, perfectly aligns with the Prime Minister’s goal of engaging with Thai society to better explain the Entertainment Complex Bill and what it promises to offer for the people of Thailand.
TECR will bring together – for the first time – both global integrated resort operators and those who have publicly opposed Thailand’s push to legalize entertainment complexes with casino gaming.
The high-level event has garnered major attention from local Thai media, who will attend in large numbers. As a result, significant coverage of TECR is expected in the Thai media in the days and weeks following the event.
TECR provides a platform for differing viewpoints to discuss the key issues surrounding the Entertainment Complex Bill in a respectful manner while allowing operators to explain global best practice. It follows the recent publication by Inside Asian Gaming of a 5,000-word deep dive into the industry’s prospects in Thailand.
The deep dive explored the likelihood of every global operator that has the capability to invest into Thailand of actually doing so, potential entertainment complex locations in Thailand, and how the most significant rules outlined in the Entertainment Complex Bill are viewed by operators.
Titled, “Inside Thai IRs”, the article served as a catalyst for TECR after receiving a huge response from local Thai media. One of Thailand’s leading mainstream media outlets, The Nation, ultimately translated and serialized IAG’s deep dive into a seven-part series that ran in its Thai language economics and politics-focused masthead, Thansettakij.
The seven parts can be viewed here:
| Part 1 | 26 Apr 2025 | Link |
| Part 2 | 27 Apr 2025 | Link |
| Part 3 | 28 Apr 2025 | Link |
| Part 4 | 29 Apr 2025 | Link |
| Part 5 | 30 Apr 2025 | Link |
| Part 6 | 1 May 2025 | Link |
| Part 7 | 2 May 2025 | Link |
Popular Thai news and current affairs television program Thantalk also ran a near hour-long discussion of the article where they explored all of the key topics covered by IAG. The show included a statement from Sorawong Thienthong, Minister of Tourism and Sports, and Secretary of the Pheu Thai Party.
More recently, Thantalk has previewed TECR itself, detailing the key participants of the event and why it looms as a potential turning point in the nation’s efforts to develop large-scale entertainment complexes.
As part of its series on entertainment complexes, Thantalk aired a program in which it explored the growth of the world’s largest land-based gaming and integrated resort hub, Macau, with a special focus on the sprawling complex that is Galaxy Macau.
IAG’s commentary on the Thai entertainment complex debate has also been featuring on a number of online media platforms in Thailand, such as YouTube and TikTok.
Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Resorts & Entertainment and Wynn Resorts will all be represented at TECR, alongside local opposing voices, academics and notable industry figures. The event will be attended by a small invitation-only select audience representing a cross-section of Thai society, such as captains of industry, academics, bureaucrats, NGO leaders and potentially some politicians close to the EC debate.
For more information, visit www.iagtecr.com.
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