Thai lawmakers call for both online and land-based gambling

Thailand is preparing to re-regulate its gambling industry and part of this is the introduction of new verticals of play. A fringe of politicians has bandied together and is now pushing an amendment to the existing Gambling Act in the hopes of introducing the opportunity for building land-based casinos across the country.

The group led by Thai Local Power Party leader Chutchawan Kong-u-dom is confident in its chances of success. It has already rallied support from more than 20 political members who are willing to back the measure. Thailand is no different than other Asian countries in the post-COVID-19 world, with finances a little tight due to the pandemic.

By introducing land-based casino resorts, Thailand may bolster its tourism industry and increase the inflow of travelers, especially at a time when Japan’s integrated resorts project has been slowing down and Macau is becoming increasingly restrictive (albeit admittedly not to foreign travelers willing to spend hard-earned money there).

The politicians are confident though that they need to do more to improve the revenue government collects. One way, they say, is through the introduction of a major casino project in each of the four government-recognized regions in the country.

This comes at an auspicious moment for such a cause as the House of Representatives is currently waiting for a committee to determine whether the opening of regulated casinos in Thailand is feasible and worthwhile. The House of Representatives decided to launch a dedicated study that would look into how casinos would impact the local economy and tourism and whether they would realistically lead to an increase in visitation and better economic performances.

Meanwhile, Thailand will remain one of the few nations based in the ASEAN region that do not have casinos legalized right now, losing foot traffic and tourism to other countries in the region. The only other two countries to have shunned casinos so far are Brunei and Indonesia. If a casino does arrive, Bangkok is potentially going to be the first place to host such a project.

There is no guarantee that Thailand can really push ahead with the legalization of casinos on such a scale but should it succeed, it will find itself in a good position to rival regional casino destinations, using its already well-established tourism reputation to further its casinoagenda.

Image credit: Unsplash.com