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The Thai government has announced a minimum 100bn baht ($3.1bn) per-property investment for future integrated resorts (IRs), but remains tight-lipped on a potentially initiative-crippling casino ban for ordinary Thais.
Addressing a press conference in Bangkok on Wednesday (June 4) to promote the Thailand Entertainment Complex initiative, deputy finance minister Julapun Amornvivat said geopolitical and economic turmoil has prompted the Thai government to seek a “new economic engine” to help drive growth.
That engine is private sector investment in a limited number of casino entertainment complexes, which will require a minimum investment of 100bn baht for each of the properties, regardless of their location in Thailand, Julapun said.
Suksit Srichomkwan, deputy secretary-general to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, former company executive and leading government salesman for the initiative, told the briefing that the Entertainment Complex initiative will increase gross domestic product (GDP) by between 0.2 percent and 0.8 percent and lift tax revenue by up to 39bn baht.
Major investment will see the construction of exhibition centres, parks and museums, water and amusement parks, expo facilities, boutique restaurants, business centres, marinas and centres promoting Thai produce and products, he said.
The range of offerings would increase the appeal of Thailand to visitors in the tourism off-season and triple average tourist spend, he added.
However, the officials sidestepped a key obstacle to the initiative that has emerged in the last six months: the imposition of a ban on casino entry to all but the wealthiest Thais.
The Office of the Council of State, a legal drafting and oversight body under the Prime Minister, in February amended draft casino control legislation to allow casino entry only to Thais with 50m baht ($1.5m) in bank accounts for at least six months.
The change blindsided the industry, prompting warnings from global industry observers that this amendment alone could have a chilling effect sufficient to bog down the entire IR campaign.
For now, the amendment remains intact in the draft before parliament despite comments from at least one senior government official that it would be removed.
The officials on Wednesday were, if anything, doubling down on the depiction of IR casinos as highly compliant, highly monitored operations with exclusive clientele.
In distancing the casinos from online gambling, Suksit said that certain, unidentified classes of customers would be barred.
Entertainment Complex gambling operations will not be “a ‘free casino’ or ‘liberalised gambling’ project,” he said, in comments translated by the Nation daily.
“The integrated casino facilities will not be open to all and will be subject to stringent anti-money laundering measures and robust security protocols.”
Suksit said Thailand can learn from the “benefits and drawbacks” of IR experiments in the Asia region, though he did not note the ability of locals in each of these jurisdictions to gamble in casinos, including South Korea.
“Our neighbouring countries are becoming increasingly competitive by creating new man-made destinations, which almost every country in this region already has,” he said.
“Thailand is considered to be starting ten years later, but the advantage is that we have learned from them about the benefits and drawbacks of each model.”
As for the prospects of the bill in parliament, Julapun said the government is “not concerned” that it won’t pass.
“We are also confident that we can clarify and foster understanding with all dissenting [political] parties, and expect it to be completed within two years,” he said.
Several prominent casino operators, including Wynn Resorts and MGM International Resorts, have met government officials in recent weeks to press the government over restrictive legislation and to sell possible projects to the public.
Gambling industry event organisers are also targeting Thailand, with Macau-based Inside Asian Gaming holding a roundtable meeting today in Bangkok that includes delegates from Wynn and fellow Macau operators Galaxy Entertainment Group and Melco Resorts and Entertainment, as well as local supporters and opponents of the Thai casino initiative.
