Thailand’s newly proposed casino bill which proposes Singapore-style “entertainment complexes” that include casinos as well as hotels, entertainment venues, conference centers, and theme parks, will return to the country’s Cabinet in March, before progressing on to Parliament for a final decision to be made.
The original draft bill was approved by the Thai cabinet last month and proposes a total of five casino resorts at locations around the popular tourist destination.
Once approved in time, the proposals could see more than the initial five locations increased.
However, Atavit Suwanpakdee, chairman of an advisory board to the Thailand minister of industry, told the Bangkok Post that the intricate details such as the final number of resorts, and even their locations were” still unclear”.
The bill’s critics warn of potential social harms that accompany casino gaming. On top of this, Economics lecturer Chittawan Chanagul from Bangkok’s Kasetsart University pointed out that developing countries that embrace casino development have been known to bring with them, “crisis levels of corruption”, citing similar issues in the Phillipines where they alegedly led to “money laundering, murder, rape and extortion” before being banned last year by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who ordered all operators to leave the islands.
Meanwhile supporters of the bill cite a Citigroup report which points out that establishing a successful Thai gambling industry could be worth over $|9 billion in revenue each year for the Southeast Asian country.
A public consultation on the bill ends tomorrow (March the 1st) and from there it will return back to the Thai Cabinet on the 4th (Tuesday).
One current proposal by the Council of State wants to limit casino space to just 10% of each development’s floor space, and it is suggestions like this that the cabinet will need to take into account before giving its approval and sending it up to the Thai Parliament for final approval.
