{"id":777024681,"date":"2025-03-31T09:44:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T12:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777024681"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:18:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:18:48","slug":"bill-to-legalise-casinos-in-thailand-could-be-debated-in-parliament-by-april-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/bill-to-legalise-casinos-in-thailand-could-be-debated-in-parliament-by-april-9","title":{"rendered":"Bill to legalise casinos in Thailand could be debated in Parliament by April 9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chief whip Wisut Chainarun has said that parliament has not yet received confirmation on when the bill will be submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Thailand.- Wisut Chainarun<\/strong>, the chief government whip, expects legislation to allow casino resorts to be debated in Parliament by April 9. According to the Bangkok Post, Chainarun said that Parliament has not yet confirmed when the bill will be submitted for review, but if it is not ready by April 3, it is likely to be considered on April 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He suggested coalition MPs were likely to approve the bill, though talks with the opposition have not been held. The draft legislation, approved by cabinet on March 27<\/a>, would allow entertainment complexes with casinos in\u00a0designated areas<\/a>\u00a0operated 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 government would consider what types of projects and offerings would be considered. Casinos would occupy less than 10 per cent of each complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft bill stipulates that Thais wanting to access a casino<\/a> would be required to pay a fee of THB5,000 (US$150) and show proof of at least THB50m (US$1.5m) in fixed deposits. Deputy finance minister Julapun Amornvivat<\/strong> had criticised the measure, which would exclude most citizens, but said it was decided to keep it in the bill and make possible amendments later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

100 civil society groups plan legal action against casino bill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A group of about 100 civil society organisations <\/strong>plans to take legal action against the bill to legalise casinos in the country. The group, which includes religious, youth, family, and education organisations, issued a statement warning about the negative effects of legalising casinos and criticising the cabinet’s decision to approve the bill a day after the prime minister faced a no-confidence debate <\/strong>in parliament. It claimed the cabinet rushed the approval and ignored the concerns of lawmakers, academics and the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group’s concerns include unclear guidelines about how many entertainment-casino complexes can be built, where they can be located, their sizes and their target audiences. An online survey conducted by\u00a0the Ministry of Finance\u00a0<\/strong>from February 28 to March 14 found that among 70,000 people, 80 per cent back the country\u2019s proposed\u00a0casino legislation. However,\u00a0a more recent poll<\/a>\u00a0conducted by\u00a0the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida)\u00a0<\/strong>showed that many Thais\u00a0have concerns about possible negative impacts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chief whip Wisut Chainarun has said that parliament has not yet received confirmation on when the bill will be submitted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":21187,"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 resort legislation, approved by cabinet, is expected to be debated in Parliament by April 9, with government whips anticipating approval. The bill outlines requirements for integrated resorts, including a THB10bn minimum capital and a THB5,000 entry fee for Thais with THB50m in fixed deposits, a measure facing criticism. Concurrently, 100 civil society groups plan legal action, citing concerns over the rushed approval and unclear guidelines, despite a Ministry of Finance survey showing 80% public backing.","focusai_entities":"Wisut Chainarun, Julapun Amornvivat, Ministry of Finance, National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), Parliament, Cabinet, Civil society organisations","focusai_location":"Thailand, Bangkok","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (1.0), gambler_consumer (0.7), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Governance Frameworks & Compliance?","query":"What specific governance frameworks are proposed for the oversight of these integrated resorts, and how will they ensure robust regulatory compliance and mitigate potential social impacts, particularly concerning responsible gambling?"},{"label":"Operator Entry & Competition?","query":"Considering the THB10bn minimum paid-up capital and the B2B\/B2C licensing structure, which international iGaming operators are strategically positioned for market entry, and what are the anticipated competitive dynamics within the nascent Thai gaming vertical?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[24628,154,158,16333],"tags":[23907],"class_list":["post-777024681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-legislation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-land-based-casino"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024681","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=777024681"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777024684,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777024681\/revisions\/777024684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777024681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777024681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777024681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}