Thailand is pressing ahead with plans to legalise casinos as it seeks to burnish the country’s appeal as a tourism hotspot and draw billions of dollars in foreign investment and taxes. Draft rules to allow casinos with an initial license for 30 years were published for public feedback until Aug. 18 by the Council of State, the government’s legal agency.
The casinos will have the option of renewing the permit for another 10 years and be housed in large entertainment complexes along with hotels, convention centers and amusement parks, among others. Thailand joins the United Arab Emirates and Japan in competing for a pie of the global casino industry, which IBIS World estimates generated $263 billion in revenue last year. Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.
and MGM Resorts International have been studying potential opening of casino resorts in the Southeast Asian nation as a hedge against uncertain prospects in Macau. Las Vegas Sands Corp. said last month it would be interested in expanding to Thailand if it “becomes available.
” Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who took power less than a year ago, has been aggressively pushing policies to attract foreign investments to Thailand, and backed the plan to legalize casinos for better oversight and proper tax collection. The country’s 500-member House of Representatives has already backed a study by a panel of lawmakers that favored the setting up of legalized casinos within large entertainment venues to attract high-spending to.