Thai cabinet asked to mull 45 public inputs on casino bill
A set of public recommendations are to be forwarded to the national government by Thailand’s Fiscal Policy Office, suggesting changes to the proposed draft casino resort bill.
Among the 45 changes proposed by the general public – based on their input at public hearings – is that “the ratio of Thai shareholders in each entertainment complex should stand at around 30 to 51 percent”. That is according to a Monday report in that country’s The Nation newspaper, citing an unnamed source.
The report did not clarify whether those particular figures – related to percentage of local shareholders – were expected to translate in practice into percentage of control over casino resort projects.
According to the report, the total 45 suggestions will be sent to the country’s cabinet for it to “consider and select”.
Other suggestions highlighted in the report, and said to be based on the consultation, include: that casino complexes be based in main tourism destinations like Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chonburi, Rayong or Hua Hin, instead of the capital, Bangkok; and that casino entry fees for Thai nationals be set at THB1,000 (about US$30) to THB2,000 per time or THB20,000 to THB40,000 per year.
Under the terms of the current draft, locals will have to pay an entrance fee of THB5,000 on a per-visit basis.
The report said some consultation participants suggested casino-licence validity be reduced to 10 years from the 30 years proposed in the existing draft bill. Other participants said the licence period should be made longer: extending to as much as 50 or 60 years.
The public consultation participants also proposed that the type of entertainment activities allowed in each complex should be raised from four to seven, including zones for promoting Thai culture.
According to the draft, aside from a casino, an entertainment complex must contain “at least” four other types of entertainment businesses, which can be chosen from a list included in the document.
The list encompasses hotels; restaurants, bars and nightclubs; sport stadiums; yacht and cruise clubs; department stores; water parks; amusement parks; and venues for promoting Thai culture.
Another suggestion was the title of the bill should be changed, to use the term“integrated resort” in the title, from the current term referring to the “entertainment complex” bill.
A recent report from banking group JP Morgan, said a legal land-based Thai casino industry could add “0.3 percent to 1 percent to gross d0mestic product and boost tax revenue by 0.4 percent to 1.2 percent”.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley suggested in a recent report that a legalised casino industry in Thailand could generate “US$4 billion to US$6 billion” in annual gross gaming revenue. According to the bank, the terms on the gaming licences in Thailand “look attractive at this point, with one of the lowest gaming tax levels in Asia (17 percent)”.
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