Bill to legalise casinos in Thailand could be passed next year

The bill could be passed in around six months.

Thailand.- The government hopes the legislation to allow casino resorts, which is currently at a draft stage, will be passed by the two chambers of the country’s parliament in 2025. Prommin Lertsuridej, Secretary-General to the country’s Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra told Bloomberg on Friday, that “the law should be passed in six months from now at the earliest, so it should be next year to start.”

The bill is expected to be approved by the Cabinet later this year before being considered by the House of Representatives and the upper house Senate next year. Each house typically takes months to pass a bill in three required readings. Several administrative steps will still be required once the bill clears the parliament before casinos can start operating.

Analysts at Citigroup have forecast that casinos in Thailand could generate US$1.91bn annually in gross gaming revenue (GGR). That would surpass the GGR of Singapore’s two casinos and place Thailand “only behind Macau and Las Vegas.”

Analysts George Choi, Preenapa Detchsri, and Timothy Chau based their analysis on the assumption of two licences in Bangkok and one each in Pattaya, Phuket, and Chiang Mai, all popular destinations for international tourists. They estimated that any international casino operator granted an entertainment complex licence in Bangkok could expect at least a 15 per cent increase in EBITDA while some operators could see annual EBITDA nearly double assuming a 50:50 joint venture with local partners.

“In light of the lower gaming tax rate at 17 per cent and the lower operating expenses – mostly wages and utilities – versus Singapore, we believe EBITDA margin could reach 40 per cent to 50 per cent, which implies Thailand could see industry EBITDA of approximately US$4.1bn annually,” they said.