Thailand closer to take gamble on casinos, unveils draft rules

Draft rules to allow casinos with an initial license for 30 years were published for public feedback until August 18 by the Council of State, the government’s legal agency. The casinos will have the option of renewing the permit for another 10 years and be housed in large entertainment complexes along with hotels, convention centres and amusement parks, among others.

Thailand joins the United Arab Emirates and Japan in competing for a pie of the global casino industry, which IBIS World estimates generated US$263 billion in revenue last year. Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd and MGM Resorts International have been studying potential opening of casino resorts in the Southeast Asian nation as a hedge against uncertain prospects in Macau. Las Vegas Sands Corp. said last month it would be interested in expanding to Thailand if it “becomes available.”

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who took power less than a year ago, has been aggressively pushing policies to attract foreign investments to Thailand and backed the plan to legalise casinos for better oversight and proper tax collection.

The country’s 500-member House of Representatives has already backed a study by a panel of lawmakers that favoured the setting up of legalised casinos within large entertainment venues to attract high-spending tourists. The study found that Thailand can lift tourism revenue by about US$12 billion by legalising casinos and housing them within large entertainment complexes.

Though most types of betting are illegal in Thailand – a majority Buddhist and conservative society – any opening of casinos will be in line with its recent embrace of a more liberal landscape to revive its tourism industry from the pandemic blow. In 2022, Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis and is on course to become the first in Southeast Asia to legalise same-sex marriages.