{"id":777022124,"date":"2025-01-20T06:34:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T09:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777022124"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:35:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T05:35:54","slug":"thailands-former-prime-minister-says-casino-licences-should-only-be-awarded-through-bidding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailands-former-prime-minister-says-casino-licences-should-only-be-awarded-through-bidding","title":{"rendered":"Former Thai prime minister says casino licences should be awarded through bidding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thaksin Shinawatra said he is confident a scheme will start next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Thailand.- Thaksin Shinawatra<\/strong>, the former prime minister of Thailand, has said that casino licences should only be awarded through a bidding process. According to the Bangkok Post, Shinawatra, the father of the current prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra<\/strong>, mentioned the draft bill to legalise casinos<\/a> at a gathering of supporters in the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said bidders would need to show what they could provide in terms of tourism advantages and tax revenue. Shinawatra also dismissed suggestions that coalition parties were against the proposal and downplayed calls for a referendum on casinos, expressing confidence that casino legislation would be enacted this year. A committee would then establish regulations before a launch next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft bill proposes\u00a030-year casino licences with the option for a 10-year renewal<\/strong>. Complexes would be located in designated areas and operated by companies registered in Thailand with a minimum paid-up capital of THB10bn (US$283m). Casino entry fees for Thai nationals have been set at THB5,000 (US$144). A policy panel led by the prime minister and a regulatory agency would oversee the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Shinawatra, each complex would create around 20,000 jobs, with every employee guaranteed a monthly salary of at least 20,000 baht (US$580). Shinawatra said the casino component would be\u00a0no more than around 10 per cent of the project\u2019s total area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a study by the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO)<\/a>, the establishment of IRs could increase visits to Thailand by 5 to 20 per cent and increase spending per visitor from THB40,000 (US$1,184) to THB60,000 (US$1,776).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thaksin Shinawatra said he is confident a scheme will start next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":12624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is confident that legislation to legalize casinos will pass this year, with a bidding process for 30-year integrated resort licenses commencing in 2025. The proposed framework includes a THB10bn minimum paid-up capital for operators, a THB5,000 entry fee for Thai nationals, and oversight by a new regulatory agency, aiming to significantly boost tourism and tax revenue.","focusai_entities":"Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Fiscal Policy Office (FPO)","focusai_location":"Thailand, Nakhon Phanom","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.95), payments_fraud_aml (0.75), investor_analyst (0.9), gambler_consumer (0.7), supplier_vendor (0.85), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Governance Frameworks?","query":"What specific governance frameworks will be implemented to ensure transparency and mitigate corruption risks in the licensing process for these integrated resorts?"},{"label":"Operator Competitive Landscape?","query":"How will the proposed THB10bn minimum paid-up capital requirement impact the competitive landscape for potential B2C operators, particularly regarding market entry barriers for smaller entities?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16333],"tags":[23911,23907],"class_list":["post-777022124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-land-based-casino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022124","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=777022124"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777022152,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022124\/revisions\/777022152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777022124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777022124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777022124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}