{"id":777023830,"date":"2025-03-07T09:47:25","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T12:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777023830"},"modified":"2026-04-22T01:03:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:03:35","slug":"thai-casino-bill-to-retain-steep-financial-requirements-for-citizens-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thai-casino-bill-to-retain-steep-financial-requirements-for-citizens-for-now","title":{"rendered":"Thai casino bill to retain steep financial requirements for citizens for now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Parliament will be able to decide whether to remove the rule from Thai casino legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Thailand.- After announcing that the government would <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/thailand-drops-plan-to-limit-casino-entry-for-citizens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">drop the proposal<\/a>, deputy finance minister\u00a0<strong>Julapun Amornvivat<\/strong>\u00a0says the casino entry requirement for Thai nationals of at least THB50m (US$1.5m) in fixed deposits for six months will be included in the draft bill. The government reversed its decision to drop the requirement after its legal advisory body suggested the amendment should be included. Parliament will be able to decide whether to approve it or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amornvivat said that he is against the measure since it would exclude most citizens. He said there are only about <strong>10,000 bank accounts in Thailand <\/strong>with deposits exceeding THB50m, which leaves over 70 million people unable to enter casinos. Amornvivat has proposed that Thais wanting to access a casino should be required to pay a fee of THB5,000 (US$150) and show proof of paid income tax for three consecutive years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/legalisation-of-casinos-in-thailand-draft-bill-could-be-sent-to-cabinet-by-year-end\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The draft bill<\/a>&nbsp;was approved on January 13 and sent to the Council of State for review, after which it will be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. The legislation proposes&nbsp;30-year casino licences with the option for a 10-year renewal. Complexes would 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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Anti-casino groups protest casino bill outside government house<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Members of three organisations, the Network of Students and People for Thailand\u2019s Reform, the Dharma Army, and the Centre of People for Monarchy Protection, have been camped outside Government House since Sunday (March 2) to protest against the casino bill. The groups pledge to remain there until their demands are met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Nation Thailand, groups submitted a letter of opposition to Amornvivat, which was accepted by Sikharin Limnijsorakul, a senior aide to the minister. The\u00a0<strong>Stop Gambling Foundation<\/strong>, along with a group of legal experts, anti-gambling advocates and representatives from various institutions aims to collect 50,000 signatures to demand a referendum on the plan. A survey conducted by<strong>\u00a0the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida)\u00a0<\/strong>found the majority of Thais to be opposed to casinos.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/01\/1643019027164025529516382823431637763562Cierran-cuatro-casinos-en-Misiones-300x200.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\"><span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/bill-to-legalise-casinos-in-thailand-could-be-debated-in-parliament-before-year-end\">Bill to legalise casinos in Thailand could be debated in Parliament before year-end<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parliament will be able to decide whether to remove the rule from Thai casino legislation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777019851,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Thailand's proposed casino legislation faces ongoing debate regarding entry requirements for Thai nationals, with a controversial THB50m fixed deposit rule included in the draft bill despite the Deputy Finance Minister's opposition. The bill, which outlines 30-year licenses and significant capital requirements for operators, is progressing through the legislative process amidst substantial public protests and survey data indicating widespread opposition.","focusai_entities":"Julapun Amornvivat, Sikharin Limnijsorakul, Network of Students and People for Thailand\u2019s Reform, Dharma Army, Centre of People for Monarchy Protection, Stop Gambling Foundation, National Institute of Development Administration (Nida)","focusai_location":"Thailand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.95), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.85)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Impact of Entry Rules","query":"What is the projected impact of the proposed THB50m fixed deposit or THB5,000 entry fee on the total addressable market (TAM) for domestic players, and how might this influence GGR projections for potential operators?"},{"label":"Legislative Timeline & Risk","query":"Given the significant public opposition and the ongoing legislative process, what is the revised timeline for final parliamentary approval, and what are the key political and social risks that could derail or significantly alter the current draft bill?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[24628,154,16333],"tags":[23911,23907],"class_list":["post-777023830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight-of-the-week","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\/777023830","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=777023830"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777023830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777023850,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777023830\/revisions\/777023850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777019851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777023830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777023830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777023830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}