{"id":777024081,"date":"2025-03-14T09:52:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T12:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777024081"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:50:10","slug":"four-potential-cities-named-for-thai-casino-developments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/four-potential-cities-named-for-thai-casino-developments","title":{"rendered":"Four potential cities named for Thai casino developments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nikom Boonwiset, vice-chairman of the special committee, said the cities were selected for their tourism potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Thailand.- <strong>Nikom Boonwiset<\/strong>, vice-chairman of a special committee overseeing Thailand\u2019s proposed casino legislation, has said that Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, and Phuket could become the first four locations to host entertainment complexes with casinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Bangkok Post, Boonwiset, who is also an MP from the Pheu Thai Party, said that the THB500bn (US$14.8bn) project is expected to draw at least 50 million visitors each year and generate over 40,000 jobs. He said several international investors are interested in the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each entertainment complex would include a five-star hotel, a shopping mall, amusement park, sports arena, a convention hall, and a large exhibition centre. Less than 10 per cent of each complex would be for a casino. Boonwiset said that critics of the project tende to focus only on the casino aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The draft bill to legalise casinos in Thailand was to be debated at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday but the debate <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/cabinet-debate-on-thai-casino-bill-put-back\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has been put back<\/a> to await the conclusion of a public hearing today (March 14). This was after groups camped outside Government House to protest against the bill. A survey conducted by<strong> the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida)\u00a0<\/strong>found the majority of Thais to be opposed to casinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analysts at Citigroup have forecast that casinos in&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/gambling-in-thailand-casinos-could-generate-us9-1bn-in-annual-ggr-analysts-say\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thailand could generate US$1.91bn annually in gross gaming revenue (GGR)<\/a>. That would surpass the GGR of Singapore\u2019s two casinos and place Thailand \u201conly behind Macau and Las Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MGM Resorts International<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Galaxy Entertainment Group\u00a0<\/strong>have already\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/galaxy-and-mgm-resorts-explore-casino-opportunities-in-thailand-and-uae\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shown interest<\/a>. Investment group\u00a0<strong>CLSA<\/strong> has said\u00a0that <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-casino-operators-eye-potential-thai-market-clsa-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts<\/a> are also interested, while <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/royal-turf-club-of-thailand-reportedly-plans-us5-88bn-ir-investment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Royal Turf Club of Thailand (RTCT)<\/a>\u00a0plans to invest THB200bn (US$5.88bn)\u00a0in an IR with a casino.\u00a0<\/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\/2023\/06\/1686836550macau-loses-95-of-mass-and-vip-business-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\/bangkok-port-identified-as-potential-site-for-casino-complex\">Bangkok Port identified as potential site for casino complex<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nikom Boonwiset, vice-chairman of the special committee, said the cities were selected for their tourism potential.<\/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":"Thailand is advancing plans to legalize integrated resorts (IRs) with casinos, targeting Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, and Phuket as initial locations. The estimated US$14.8bn project, expected to generate US$1.91bn in annual GGR, has attracted interest from major international operators despite public opposition and a postponed cabinet debate.","focusai_entities":"Nikom Boonwiset, Pheu Thai Party, Bangkok Post, National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), Citigroup, MGM Resorts International, Galaxy Entertainment Group, CLSA, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, The Royal Turf Club of Thailand (RTCT)","focusai_location":"Thailand, Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Singapore, Macau, Las Vegas","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.85), operator_casino (0.98), investor_analyst (0.97), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Framework Details","query":"Beyond the proposed locations, what specific B2B\/B2C licensing structures, responsible gambling mandates, and taxation regimes are being considered within Thailand's draft casino legislation?"},{"label":"GGR Impact Analysis","query":"Given Citigroup's US$1.91bn GGR forecast, what is the projected cannibalization effect on existing regional gaming verticals, and how might this influence capital allocation strategies for major operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,24628,158,16333],"tags":[23911],"class_list":["post-777024081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024081","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=777024081"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777024096,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024081\/revisions\/777024096"}],"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=777024081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777024081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777024081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}