Thai gamblers make for robust market
Australia-listed gaming company Donaco International will pay $360 million to buy Star Vegas, described by Forbes as “the best casino” in Poipet, Cambodia. The casino has 109 gaming tables in a gaming area that could accommodate more than twice that number, along with more than 1,260 gaming machines.
Forbes reports that the Cambodian gaming market is especially healthy due to its proximity to Thailand, where casinos are still illegal; improved transportation to and from Macau including better highways; longer open hours along the border; and, “perhaps most important,” according to the publication, “Thailand’s military rulers cracking down on Bangkok’s vast illegal casino trade.”
The country’s Excise Department has retained Sungsidh Piriyaranhsa of Rangsit University to consider the regulatory and tax structures. Piriyaranhsa, dean of the university’s College of Social Innovation, is believed to advocate a tax on profits rather than revenues, according to TotallyGaming.com.
Donaco was established in 2002 by Joey Lim and his grandfather Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, who also founded the Genting conglomerate of Malaysia.
