Safeguards Warning On Casino Plan

[george]

UNDERGROUND ECONOMY

Safeguards warning on casino plan

BANGKOK: Economist Sangsit Piriyarangsan has warned the government against rushing into its proposed casino and entertainment complex.

Steps must be taken to stop influential figures from getting involved, he said. Mr Sangsit studies the underground economy.

Police reforms were needed, he said, or the project could be plundered by senior politicians and police.

Technical issues such as setting the age limit and income range of casino patrons could be decided later.

Nationwide public hearings should take place together with the general elections in 2005.

The government says it wants the hearing result to come out by the first quarter of next year.

Mr Sangsit, also deputy chairman of the National Economic and Social Advisory Board, said if monetary gain was the government's aim, it was likely to be opposed by the public.

Casinos could feed gambling addictions and people who had never gambled would get into the habit.

``The government has not made clear whether it is decriminalising casinos to tackle social or economic problems,'' he said.

In a poll he held in 2001-2, 57% of Thais opposed the casino plan, 30% backed it, and the rest abstained.

Deputy Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said liberalising casinos would undermine quality of life.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra defended the project, insisting that it would not breed crime and was a different issue from legalising casinos.

Underground gambling dens were beyond the arm of the law. The pros and cons of legalising gambling had been debated for years, but a conclusion was nowhere in sight.

Mr Thaksin said a government panel studying the proposal would design the opinion survey. Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngarm, who heads the study panel, said the entertainment complex and casino legalisation proposals had yet to be fleshed out.

--The Post 2003-12-02

[george]

Follow up:

The casino question

The Thaksin government is right in planning to hold a referendum to decide whether casinos should be legally set up in the country.

Unlike previous governments which were not interested in the issue, the Thai Rak Thai-led administration is keen on tackling the problem of illegal gambling, which generates huge income for mafia-type people.

Thai gamblers also visit casinos in neighbouring countries, causing Thailand to lose billions of baht in foreign exchange each year.

It remains unclear whether only casinos will be legally set up or will they be part of entertainment complexes that serve both locals and foreign tourists.

In any case, public opinion must be taken into consideration before the government makes a final decision on this matter.

According to the government's proposal, a referendum on legalised casinos will be held together with the next general election, scheduled for early 2005. Voters will be asked to say ``Yes'' or ``No'' on the legalisation of casinos. We think some space should be allocated on the ballot so that voters can explain why they agree or disagree with the idea. These opinions will help the government to decide properly.

It is too easy to say that we should have legal casinos because other countries have them. They may be able to do so because their societies are stronger than ours, and they take law enforcement seriously. That is why it is necessary to let the public participate in the decision-making procedure.

-- Editorial from Matichon.com 2003-12-01