{"id":777025063,"date":"2025-04-09T08:40:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T11:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777025063"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:01:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:01:03","slug":"parliamentary-debate-on-thai-casino-bill-postponed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/parliamentary-debate-on-thai-casino-bill-postponed","title":{"rendered":"Parliamentary debate on Thai casino bill postponed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government said there are other priorities in the wake of US tariffs and last month’s earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Thailand.- The government of Thailand has postponed the parliamentary debate on the\u00a0bill to legalise casino resorts<\/a> in the country. Prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra <\/strong>said that the government was focusing on the issue of the US imposing a 36 per cent tariff on Thai goods and the aftermath of last month’s earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft casino legislation,\u00a0approved by cabinet on March 27<\/a>,\u00a0was expected to be debated today (April 9). Deputy finance minister\u00a0Julapun Amornvivat\u00a0<\/strong>had expressed confidence that it would pass its first reading. Shinawatra said the bill will be reintroduced in the next parliamentary session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft bill would allow entertainment complexes with casinos in designated areas<\/a> 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 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
\"Thai
Prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The proposed legislation stipulates that\u00a0Thais wanting to access a casino<\/a> would be required to pay a fee of THB5,000 (US$150) and show proof\u00a0of at least THB50m (US$1.5m) in fixed deposits. Amornvivat\u00a0had 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

While the government defends the bill, arguing it could generate employment and increase tourist spending, opposition continues to grow. A group of about\u00a0100 civil society organisations<\/strong>, which includes religious, youth, family, and education organisations, has warned of negative effects. It says the cabinet has rushed approval and ignored the concerns of lawmakers, academics and the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 backed the country\u2019s proposed\u00a0casino legislation. However,\u00a0a more recent poll<\/a> conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida)\u00a0<\/strong>showed that many Thais\u00a0have concerns about possible negative impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also: <\/strong>Thai Fiscal Policy Office issues 12-point statement backing casino bill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government said there are other priorities in the wake of US tariffs and last month’s earthquake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777018832,"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 has deferred the parliamentary debate on its proposed casino resort legalization bill, citing immediate economic priorities such as US tariffs and earthquake recovery. The legislation, which outlines a framework for integrated resorts with significant capital requirements and specific access criteria for Thai nationals, will be reintroduced in the next parliamentary session. This delay impacts the timeline for potential market entry and regulatory clarity for prospective operators and investors.","focusai_entities":"Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Julapun Amornvivat, Ministry of Finance, National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), civil society organisations","focusai_location":"Thailand, US","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.7), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Thailand Casino Timeline","query":"What specific legislative or economic milestones must be achieved for the Thai casino resort bill to be successfully reintroduced and passed in the next parliamentary session, and what is the projected timeline for these events?"},{"label":"Investor Impact Analysis","query":"How does this legislative postponement in Thailand alter the risk-adjusted return profiles and market entry strategies for major integrated resort developers and institutional investors considering the APAC region?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,158,16333],"tags":[23907,225,342],"class_list":["post-777025063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-land-based-casino","tag-legislation","tag-thailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777025063","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=777025063"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777025063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777025092,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777025063\/revisions\/777025092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777018832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777025063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777025063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777025063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}