{"id":777022747,"date":"2025-02-10T08:51:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T11:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777022747"},"modified":"2026-04-22T01:57:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:57:56","slug":"former-thai-prime-minister-criticises-plan-to-legalise-casinos-and-online-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/former-thai-prime-minister-criticises-plan-to-legalise-casinos-and-online-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Former Thai prime minister criticises plan to legalise casinos and online gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Abhisit Vejjajiva\u00a0has said that casinos and online gambling would worsen social problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Thailand.- Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva<\/strong> has criticised the Thai government\u2019s plan to\u00a0legalise\u00a0casinos<\/a> in entertainment complexes as well as online gambling. During a seminar about gambling initiatives, Vejjajiva said the plan was “dangerous” and that online gambling, in particular, would cause a negative social impact by increasing household debts and crime rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Bangkok Post, Vejjajiva said casinos would not be beneficial for Thai workers as workers from neighbouring countries would be likely to be hired there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft bill\u00a0proposes\u00a030-year casino licences with the option for a 10-year renewal. It stipulates that complexes should be located in designated areas and operated by companies registered in Thailand with a minimum paid-up capital of THB10bn (US$283m). A policy panel led by the prime minister and a regulatory agency would oversee the industry. The Council of State is reviewing\u00a0the draft, after which it will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Stop Gambling Foundation<\/strong>, along with a group of legal experts, anti-gambling advocates and representatives from various institutions and professional groups, aims to collect 50,000 signatures to demand a referendum on the plan. A survey conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida)\u00a0<\/strong>found the majority of Thais to be opposed to the government\u2019s plans to legalise casino entertainment complexes and online gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also:<\/strong> 218 arrested in Thailand for alleged illegal gambling<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abhisit Vejjajiva\u00a0has said that casinos and online gambling would worsen social problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":15076,"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 Abhisit Vejjajiva has strongly criticized the government's plan to legalize casinos and online gambling, citing concerns over increased social problems, household debt, and crime rates. The draft bill, proposing 30-year licenses and significant capital requirements, faces substantial public and organized opposition, including a push for a national referendum.","focusai_entities":"Abhisit Vejjajiva, Stop Gambling Foundation, National Institute of Development Administration, Council of State, House of Representatives","focusai_location":"Thailand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Timeline Impact","query":"What is the projected timeline for the Council of State and House of Representatives' review of the draft bill, and how might the proposed referendum impact this legislative schedule?"},{"label":"Social Opposition Mitigation","query":"What specific governance frameworks and responsible gambling measures are being considered to address the significant social concerns raised by opponents, particularly regarding household debt and crime rates?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16333],"tags":[23911,23907],"class_list":["post-777022747","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\/777022747","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=777022747"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777022750,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022747\/revisions\/777022750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777022747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777022747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777022747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}