Democracy could end locals restrictions
Myanmar may soon open the door to foreigners-only casinos. On August 28, the country’s 2018 gambling bill was submitted to the Lower House of Parliament, according to the Myanmar Times.
“Only foreigners will be allowed into the casinos,” said Finance and Planning Minister U Aung Hlaing Win. “As such, the government will target areas with the most foreigners, such as near the border.” Passage of the law “will enable a whole new sector to flourish and draw much-needed taxes and foreign currency into the country.”
U Kyaw Soe Lin, secretary of the Lower House Bill Committee, added that casinos are a way to attract tourists, increase tax revenues and boost the national economy. The new legislation would overturn the ban on gaming first established in 1986.
According to the Irawaddy News, at first the bill did not specify who could or could not enter and play at casinos in Myanmar. The Bill Committee later added a clause stipulating that Myanmar citizens would be banned, but U Aung Hlaing Win said the country’s slow move from military rule toward democracy could ease that restriction.
“Under the new law, a Myanmar businessman will find it difficult to go inside a casino with his foreign business partners,” he said. “I don’t want citizens to be restricted unnecessarily.”
Although casinos are now banned, a few approved by the previous government still operate on the island resorts of Myeik in the Tanintharyi Region, reported Europeangaming.eu. Another casino near the Thai border in Myawaddy Township is reportedly owned by a colonel in a local border guard force, the website reported.
