Thailand: parliament set to deliberate on possible casino legalisation
Thailand’s Special House Committee is studying the feasibility of legalising gambling in the country.
Thailand.- A full report prepared by a House committee on the legalisation of casinos in Thailand and the setting up of entertainment complexes, including casinos, will be submitted to the House of Representatives on Thursday for consideration.
Aimed at raising tax revenue from legalising gambling businesses in a yet-to-be-designated area, the project has been studied by the House committee since late last year. If approved, the report will be forwarded to the government for consideration
According to Thai PBS World, in the report, the House committee is to propose that Bangkok, the Eastern Economic Corridor, 22 tourist provinces and border provinces with immigration checkpoints are potential sites for the establishment of casinos.
The committee also proposes eight types of online gambling. They include online casinos, spread betting, online sports gambling, and event betting, such as on-election results, E-sports betting, online bingo and foreign lottery betting.
The casinos would be open to both Thais and foreigners, but Thais must be at least 21 years old, with no less than 500,000 baht in their bank accounts for the past six months. They must pay an entry fee and money won when gambling in casinos will be subject to tax.
The proposed entertainment complexes must include a five-star hotel, a large shopping mall, a beauty salon, an amusement park, a zoo and in-door and out-door stadia, in addition to the casino that will occupy 5 per cent of the complex
The committee is also proposing in the report that entertainment complexes to be built in Thailand must be bigger than those in Singapore and that the projects should be joint public-private investments and be managed as a special administrative zone.
Boonlue Prasertsopar, vice chairman of a special House committee studying the feasibility of legal gambling in Thailand, said that an “entertainment complex” with legal casinos will have to be set up first before the push to legalised online gambling can begin.
“We need an entertainment complex that is acceptable by the people first before we can speak in more detail about the off-line aspect,” Boonlue said during a television program.
