Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra revealed Sunday that the government could require detailed profiles of all visitors to the nation’s legal casinos, including criminal background and wealth checks of international visitors, as part of efforts to strictly regulate the industry.
She also warned that Thailand risked falling behind regional peers in the tourism space if it didn’t follow the “regional trend” of developing large scale entertainment complexes with casinos, according to numerous local media reports.
The Prime Minister’s comments were made during her regular “Empowering Thais” program in which she again defended her government’s Entertainment Complex Bill and insisted it was designed to encourage responsible gambling.
Rejecting criticism from anti-casino opponents that the casino policy was encouraging “immoral behavior”, Paetongtarn replied, “But it’s not. This, instead, is development in line with a global trend. I don’t want to see Thailand lag behind anymore.
“Entertainment complexes will not lead Thailand to its worst vices. Developed countries like Singapore, the US, Japan and the UAE follow this global trend. They know that sand, sun, sea are not enough any longer. There must be manmade [attractions]. We don’t want Thailand to miss the trend.
“With entertainment complexes, there will not be a low season in Thailand.”
The Prime Minister again accused opponents of criticising the Entertainment Complex Bill for political gain and deliberately creating misunderstanding, reiterating that casinos would form only a small part of the larger entertainment complexes. Investment, she said, would come from the private sector and not from government coffers.
“The investment will enable the government to collect more taxes. Tax will be collected from casino visitors,” she explained.
The Paetongtarn government recently postponed parliamentary debate on the Entertainment Complex Bill until at least the next session, which starts on 2 July, citing more pressing issues such as the response to US-imposed tariffs and the aftermath of the 28 March earthquake – although many believe that growing anti-casino sentiment may have influenced the delay.
There has also been tension between Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai, fuelled by Bhumjaithai secretary-general Chaichanok Chidchob publicly declaring he would not support the bill. Leaders of both coalition parties have since insisted that the relationship remains solid.
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