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Thailand's law review authority has added a wealth entry restriction to future land-based casinos that excludes all but the wealthiest Thai nationals, potentially kneecapping the government's integrated resort (IR) campaign.
The Office of the Council of State, a law drafting and advisory body to the Prime Minister, released on Monday (February 17) its version of a draft IR law that restricts casino entry to Thais with 50m baht ($1.5m) or more in the bank.
The restriction would restrict casino entry to Thailand’s budding high-rollers and individuals with the wealth to obtain foreign citizenship, effectively turning its future casino market into one with Korean-style blocks on most local gambling.
Section 65 of the amended draft law states that Thais wishing to gamble in IR casinos must be registered, pay a proscribed entry fee (no more than 5,000 baht), and demonstrate that they have fixed deposit accounts with “not less than 50m baht [$1.5m] for not less than six months”.
The government to date has not floated such a heavy restriction, suggesting that earlier reports of the Office of the Council of State's hostility to the law were accurate, and that the council has deployed a formidable wealth threshold rather than oppose the law in its entirety.
Locking out all but the wealthiest Thais from casinos would significantly reduce profitability and make a mockery of government attempts to undermine underground gambling operations.
An Asia-based gambling industry expert familiar with the Thai IR campaign said that if the wealth provision is passed into law, the government’s courting of global gambling operators will unravel.
“The person who came up with the 50m baht amount is either a genius or a complete moron, depending on his intent,” the source said, requesting anonymity. “Either way it made me laugh.”
“I can see all the international operators already rushing to the exit.”
The move by the Office of the Council of State came just after the start of the latest round of public hearings into the draft law on Friday. The hearings conclude on March 1 before the draft is reconsidered by the Cabinet.
Thailand, like Japan and other developing land-based markets, has looked to Singapore as a model for boosting tourism through casino-resorts while applying strict regulatory controls.
But Singapore’s success was also based on a more liberal attitude to gambling by its much smaller population, a policy shift offset by aggressive enforcement and high-level problem gambling countermeasures.
Together with enduring public opposition and a degree of hostility in the legislature, Thailand now runs the risk of reprising underwhelming tender processes for casino licensees in South Korea and Japan, both of which suffered the withdrawal of major casino companies mid-process.
In so amending the draft law, the Office of the Council of State is also likely showing it will not play ball with government efforts to liberalise and regulate online gambling for locals.
