{"id":777015712,"date":"2024-05-22T09:32:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T12:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777015712"},"modified":"2026-04-22T10:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:00:33","slug":"thailands-songkhla-province-pushes-for-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailands-songkhla-province-pushes-for-casino","title":{"rendered":"Thailand&#8217;s Songkhla province pushes for casino"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The government has been urged to allow a casino complex to revitalise tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Thailand.- Songchai Mungprasithichai, president of the Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association, has urged the government to allow an integrated resort (IR) with a casino in the province to reinvigorate tourism and mitigate overreliance on Malaysian visitors.\u00a0The initiative targets the Ban Dan Nok and Sadao checkpoint area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tourism growth in Songkhla is mainly concentrated in Hat Yai, with Ban Dan Nok being largely ignored by Malaysian visitors. Tourist numbers are inconsistent, with 90 per cent of foreign visitors coming from Malaysia during festivals. Mungprasithichai noted the success of casinos in nearby countries, such as Genting&#8217;s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In March, Songkhla recorded tourism revenue of THB3.7bn (US$101.7m), ranking 10th among Thai provinces.\u00a0Mungprasithichai said clear regulations were needed to screen local gamblers, such as setting a minimum individual income. He also suggested that local communities should have a say in whether casinos are allowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In April, the Thai cabinet gave\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thai-ministry-of-finance-to-work-with-other-government-bodies-on-casino-feasibility-study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the Finance Ministry a month to evaluate the feasibility<\/a>\u00a0of IRs. The Finance Ministry has requested a two-week extension. It planned to convene with 16 relevant agencies to discuss the project, including the need for new legislation,\u00a0potential location s and to assess positive and negative impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>See also:&nbsp;<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailand-casino-floors-not-to-exceed-5-of-potential-ir-space\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thailand: casino floors not to exceed 5% of potential IR space<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The government has been urged to allow a casino complex to revitalise tourism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":15191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association is advocating for the Thai government to approve an Integrated Resort (IR) with a casino in Songkhla province to diversify tourism and reduce overreliance on Malaysian visitors. This initiative coincides with the Finance Ministry's ongoing feasibility study, which includes evaluating regulatory frameworks, potential locations, and socio-economic impacts, with a focus on local gambler screening and community input.","focusai_entities":"Songchai Mungprasithichai, Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association, Genting, Thai cabinet, Finance Ministry","focusai_location":"Thailand, Songkhla, Ban Dan Nok, Sadao, Hat Yai, Malaysia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.95), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"IR Feasibility Timeline","query":"What is the revised timeline for the Finance Ministry's comprehensive feasibility assessment of Integrated Resorts, and when can industry stakeholders expect a definitive policy recommendation regarding licensing and development?"},{"label":"Local Gambler Controls","query":"Beyond a minimum individual income, what specific regulatory mechanisms are being considered to effectively screen and control local gambler access to potential IR casinos, ensuring robust responsible gambling and AML compliance?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16333],"tags":[23911,23632,23907],"class_list":["post-777015712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-integrated-resorts","tag-land-based-casino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777015712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777015712"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777015712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777015733,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777015712\/revisions\/777015733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777015712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777015712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777015712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}