Thailand’s Casino Complex: 90% of Patrons Expected to be Locals

[142857]

This is a hugely positive development. Malaysia, Singapore and Macao, not to mention Laos and Cambodia have been cleaning up in a business that Thailand should monopolise. Personally, I thing that the number of Thais who will attend is being overestimated, foreign gamers will flood in to much cheaper and fun Thailand. Hotels will be fuller, less money will leak out of the country. We just need legalise all the other drugs like mushrooms, MDMA, cocaine etc (and tax them) and prostitution (yes seriously, get them out of the hands of the police who are their mafia protectors!) and we can create some serious economic growth!!

[cjinchiangrai]

Casinos lay waste to the local economy. Thai who are already programmed to chase luck and lotteries are going to be very susceptible to this arrangement. They should not be doing this.

[Dionigi]

1 hour ago, CanadaSam said:

This is a situation where gambling is already taking place in Thailand on a large scale, but totally unregulated, making mafia type criminals rich.

 

The gov't simply wants to regulate it, so they can add to their coffers, and perhaps add some semblance of law and order around an already established illegal industry.

 

I say, go for it.

 

 

The legal lottery loses players to the illegal lottery because the payout is better. Making casinos legal will only stop illegal casinos if the payout is better. make it hard to gamble and the illegal will win out.

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, crazykopite said:

Not a wise decision most Thais are up to there eyeballs with mountains of debt and this will only make it even worse the only winners will be the lone sharks 

 

 

......and the Chinese-Thais and the Chinese.

[Purdey]

I don't think 10% will go gambling. Better to ask how many gamble on the lottery. 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand is poised to move forward with an ambitious entertainment complex project that includes a casino. According to the Finance Ministry, the majority of the casino’s patrons—up to 90%—are expected to be Thai locals. Public hearings are ongoing for the draft law governing this new venture, fulfilling constitutional requirements.

I hope some of the profits from this venture will go into the social welfare system so that those who go bankrupt from gambling addiction have somewhere to rehabilitate.

[klauskunkel]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

prompting the Finance Ministry to draft the necessary legislation.

new legislation:  chips can be purchased from11am to 2pm, and from 5pm to midnight. Casinos to close at 1am, except where Police has been bribed properly.

[Frankie baby]

Their still passing numbers & other data back and forwards. Why don't they go ahead with a few trials and stop relying on garbage.

[thaipo7]

2 hours ago, Emdog said:

As if Many Thais are already way over their heads in debt.... ah but a big gambling win will take care of all that.... not

We think a like on this.  I just learned today a woman who HAD money is now broke because of lending to customers and they are not paying back.

[ignore it]

Looking forward to some great items at the pawn shops.

[TheFishman1]

Well, for sure some politician and government officials are gonna make a lotta money off this deal TIT

[Paulgo]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

So, foreigners will be free?  

Foreigners will always get screwed in Thailand 🙂 lol

[artotle]

Will this go hand in hand with the idea of decriminalizing small amounts of methamphetamines for personal use? 

 

Might double the profits. 

[hellohello123]

Who would have thought, a casino in Thailand frequented by Thai people

[Roo Island]

Online gambling is the rage right now. Especially the Vietnamese lucky numbers. Private card games are held everywhere.

[spidermike007]

Any Chief Financial Officer of a company that is considering investing in a casino in Thailand should be subjected to many hours of therapy with a psychiatrist, to determine if they have any level of sanity. Look at the ganja industry and the billions of baht that stand to be lost over policy flip flops. Nobody should have any trust in the Thai government and their ability to maintain consistent policy.

 

Just look at Cambodia next door. Look at what that happened after their government changed their minds when it comes to gambling. 

 

 

[Card]

2 hours ago, Trippy said:

The whole idea of a casino should be to draw foreign money into Thailand, not recycle locals money.

 

If they hired someone with actual casino experience, they could stop playing their guessing games.

Not really. More about collecting

Tax from whoever.

[Card]

2 hours ago, Trippy said:

The whole idea of a casino should be to draw foreign money into Thailand, not recycle locals money.

 

If they hired someone with actual casino experience, they could stop playing their guessing games.

Not really. More about collecting

Tax from whoever.

[Card]

The Chinese will take all this over one way or another.

[sqwakvfr]

If you go to S. Korea they have many casinos.  I went to Paradise City next to Icheon Airport.  It is massive and impressive. But S. Korea has two sets of rules for casinos. One for locals and the other for foreigners. A foreigner can enter all casinos as often as he or she wants.  But for S. Korean citizens some casinos restrict the number of  visits per month and some have an outright ban on S. Korean citizens from entering.  Wonder Why? Koreans can get addicted to gambling quickly and get into debt.  Also, there are no casinos in the Chinese mainland but many just across the border from Shenzen in Macao.  The Thai Government believes casinos will be a financial boon??? OK,  we shall see. 

 

 

 

[kimothai]

I for one have no interest in casinos even if entry fee was only 5 baht. On the upside if the casino goes belly up it might make a nice Airconditioned building for repurposing as beer garden/upscale Soi 6.

[Owiee]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

File photo courtesy: Wikipedia

 

Thailand is poised to move forward with an ambitious entertainment complex project that includes a casino. According to the Finance Ministry, the majority of the casino’s patrons—up to 90%—are expected to be Thai locals. Public hearings are ongoing for the draft law governing this new venture, fulfilling constitutional requirements.

 

Heading the initiative is caretaker Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat. A special House committee under his leadership has studied the feasibility and submitted its findings to the Cabinet, prompting the Finance Ministry to draft the necessary legislation.

 

The study draws parallels with Macau, where casino gambling attracts at least 10% of the population, primarily locals. Applying this metric to Thailand, the committee projects that 37 million Thai residents could be potential casino visitors.

 

With 11 million foreign tourists in Thailand in 2022, the committee anticipates a combined figure of 4.8 million potential gamblers, of which 3.7 million would be Thai residents.

 

These projections appear realistic. According to a Finance Ministry source, 4.48 million Thais engaged in card gambling in 2021. It's anticipated that some of these Thai gamblers, who previously ventured to neighboring countries, would instead patronize local casinos once they open.

 

The draft law assigns significant authority to the prime minister, who will enforce the law, and to the Entertainment Complex Policy Committee, chaired by the prime minister, which will manage complex-related policies.

 

Companies seeking a concession must be either limited or public limited companies with at least 10 billion baht in registered capital. Each licence will have a 30-year validity, renewable for additional 10-year terms, and feature a 5 billion baht fee and an annual 1 billion baht renewal cost.

 

For Thai patrons, the entrance fee to the casino will be capped at 5,000 baht per person, according to a Bangkok Post report. Thus, the project stands as a significant economic gamble with high-stakes expectations.

 

-- 2024-08-26

 

 

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I can’t see thing being a win for most Thais

[sandrew33]

3 hours ago, Khyron said:

I really hope they go back to the original plan of no Thais. Asians have some sort of genetic predisposition for gambling, not racist but true. Go to any casino in the US or Canada, the vast majority are Asians. I would agree, once the locals get a whiff of the gambling bug, the household debt will skyrocket, loan sharks will make a bundle unfortunately.

You do realise that Thais always gamble significantly right? 
 

This will just move some to regulated from unregulated.  

[chuang]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

So, foreigners will be free?  

Why the double standards...are farangs going to complain...

[proton]

3 hours ago, brianthainess said:

The loan sharks will be rubbing their hands in glee.

 

We had a friend who was a loan shark. She died within a week of covid during the pandemic, cremated in 24 hours and ashes chucked in the klong. Her many clients rubbed their hands in glee.

[IamNoone88]

I am not the analysis quoted in the article makes a lot of sense, without some sources. 

[Zack61]

This is not good and the consequences will be far reaching. Fleecing the poor to give to the rich. Gambling is already a big problem in Thailand and this will just increase the problem. I guess this is how they will claw back some of that 10,000B they are handing out. 

[khunPer]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

According to the Finance Ministry, the majority of the casino’s patrons—up to 90%—are expected to be Thai locals.

Casinos seems not to become tourism attraction; however, Casinos might save some currency outflow from Thailand to Cambodia...

[sscc]

4 hours ago, brianthainess said:

The loan sharks will be rubbing their hands in glee.

 

Loan Sharks show up at every casino worldwide.  

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, khunPer said:

Casinos seems not to become tourism attraction; however, Casinos might save some currency outflow from Thailand to Cambodia...

 

Probably end up in the hands of the Chinese anyway.....then the money can flow directly back to the motherland and miss Cambodia out.