The latest parliament committee to study the potential legalization of casinos had picked its chairman on Thursday.
“The prime minister and the government did not provide any policy or any special instruction on the issue since this is a matter for the legislative branch,” said Deputy Transport Minister, Atirat Ratanasate, who was selected to lead the casino committee.
“The matter must be studied in all aspects, including the pros and cons, impacts from abroad, and impacts from neighboring countries, “ Atirat said. “And the aim is for the study to be done within 90 days as assigned,” he added.
Atirat will be working with 16 other deputy chairman of the committee which includes members of the opposition and the coalition.
The 60-member committee was set up after parliamentarians voted 310 to nine to look into a proposal that would allow legalised casinos to be set up in the country. The idea is to attract more tourists to the country after the Covid pandemic wreaked havoc on the tourism industry.
Apart from the state lottery and horse racing, all other gambling activities are illegal in Thailand.
Such a proposal has been made by many governments before but nothing ever came to fruition.
But casino advocates say that these entertainment venues will create jobs and revenue for the government. However, critics worry that gambling could lead to moral issues and how to properly regulate and tax the establishments.
This clash of opinion has caused a longstanding deadlock, ultimately eliminating any progress on the development of such entertainment venues.
Chada Thaised, Bhumjaithai Party MP for Uthai Thani, and a member of the latest casino committee, said that the country urgently needs to boost its revenue in Covid’s wake.
He added that casinos should be built at airports to provide services for tourists while they are waiting for their planes.
He said Macau, the world’s largest gaming hub, is currently under pressure from China as the mainland is cracking down on money laundering activities. And as reports emerge that Macau’s gaming regulator has ordered their junket operators to stop offering credit to customers, Chada believes that it’s now a good time for Thailand to use this opportunity to rake in the cash.
“If the government wants to do it, it can be done, but so far, nobody dares to do it,” Chada said.
He argues that regulations can be put in place to ensure only middle-income adults will be able to enter the casinos as such rules are already being applied in other countries.
“If we are going to have it, [casinos] we must do it soon,” he said.
“Do not forget that more than a hundred such committees had been set up before, but they were all talk, nothing occurred. But this is the right time to make this happen.”