Thai political group calls for legalization of both land-based and online casinos
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A group of minor political parties has submitted a draft amendment to Thailand’s Gambling Act calling for the legalization of both land-based and online casino gaming and proposing development of four casinos nationwide.
The group is led by Chutchawan Kong-u-dom, leader of the Thai Local Power Party, with the Bangkok Post reporting that the group includes all members of Chutchawan’s party plus 20 members of other parties.
Citing much-needed tax revenue as the reason for their push, the group wants a casino built in each of Thailand’s four regions in areas most heavily frequented by tourists.
Tax would also be collected from online casino operators while allowing punishment to be handed out to those running illegal operations.
“The draft amendment to the Gambling Act to legalise casinos and underground lotteries is meant to generate income while the country faces massive national debt,” Chutchawan said.
His proposed amendments to the nation’s Gambling Law comes as the House of Representatives waits for an extraordinary committee examining the feasibility of opening regulated casinos in Thailand to submit its report, expected to be finalized before the end of this month.
The study, launched in December following a House of Representatives vote, has specifically focused on the potential for an integrated resort with a casino, with the goal of attracting more foreign visitation and boosting the local economy. It is not yet known how many casino-resorts could be legislated for should such a scenario eventuate, although it has been suggested that the capital city of Bangkok is considered the number one location for such a development.
As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, other potential IR locations include the likes of Pattaya and Phuket. It has also been suggested that global casino giant Las Vegas Sands could be first cab off the rank after the Chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the company is in talks with “a major country” in Asia to develop an integrated resort of a similar scale to Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
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.
