Thailand’s newly elected House of Representatives has approved the formation of a 60-person committee to assess the potential of legal gaming in the country.
The committee, approved late last month, has 90 days to complete its task, reported the Bangkok Post.
In December 2021, lawmakers convened a similar group to study gambling, including casino resorts. In July 2022, it filed a report with the National Assembly recommending that the government permit a number of “entertainment complexes,” integrated resorts (IRs) with legal casinos in up to five locations nationwide, with Bangkok and Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor the most suitable locations, reported Inside Asian Gaming.
But a new coalition government led by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin of the Pheu Thai Party was elected in May and took the reins in September. Its committee may accept the recommendations of the former or start all over again, which could “potentially undermine progress made in recent years,” reported IAG.
According to GGRAsia, religious factions in the Buddhist kingdom have long resisted legal gambling in the country. That opposition has sent Thai gamblers across the country’s borders to gamble in neighboring Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia. As a result, say MPs, Thailand is forfeiting significant revenues to those border countries, especially Cambodia, whose casino industry relies mostly on Thai gamblers.
The previous committee called for casinos to occupy no more than 5 percent of the total IR floor space, with non-gaming attractions comprising the rest and including luxury hotels, retail corridors, spas, theme parks, zoos and sports stadiums.
Under the previous recommendations, entry would be limited to foreigners and locals of 21 years and older. The latter would need to show proof of financial solvency, demonstrating that they had at least THB500,000 (US$15,000) on account in the previous six months.
In related news, Cambodia’s gaming regulator says it expects the number of licensed casinos in the kingdom to eventually be limited to “around 50.”
Ros Phirun, secretary general of the Cambodia Commercial Gambling Management Commission (CGMC), spoke about the country’s new 2021 gaming law at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas last month.
Implementation of the law was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, reported the Cambodia Daily. Phirun said the CGMC has licensed 87 operators, a sharp decline from the more than 200 casinos that operated before the law was enacted.
While the CGMC will likely issue “a few more” in the months ahead, “in the long run I think it is probably around 50,” Phirun said. Existing operators will have a period of adjustment to fully comply with requirements under the gaming law, with full implementation to be complete over the next 15 years.
“We have a good law, we have a good regulation, we have good policy, but if the capacity of the staff is still low, then no one will enforce the law,” Phirun told the Daily. “This must be done together so that we can regulate the industry to international standards. “So we are really just starting from 2022 to implement these regulations—it is still very young.”
The new law replaces a previous annual fee with a 4 percent tax on VIP gross gaming revenues (GGR), a 7 percent tax on mass GGR, and a 10 percent value-added tax (VAT) on both.
“Currently, because we are still young in this industry—both the regulator and the operators—we are allowing (operators) to self-declare for tax,” Phirun said. “And they are learning how to self-declare, so in the first phase we are not receiving much tax but it cannot stay like that—we have to enforce and collect more tax.”
