Committee report on legalising casinos wins House’s approval
The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a report prepared by an ad hoc House committee studying the feasibility of opening entertainment complexes with casinos in Thailand in a meeting that ran for five hours.
During the deliberations, Pantin Nuanjerm, Move Forward MP for Bangkok, remarked that the report should not be referred to as a feasibility study of entertainment complexes, but should clearly state that it is about legalising casinos in Thailand to avoid confusion.
Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, United Thai Nation party-listed MP, urged fellow MPs to vote for the bill to allow entertainment complexes with casinos in Thailand. He said that legalising casinos is long overdue and should promote tourism as well as stop the outflow of funds to neighbouring countries that already have such establishments.
“It’s time to legalise casinos. Please carefully study the report and the committee’s suggestions, and try to make it happen in this government’s term,” he said.
Of the 257 members attending the meeting, 255 approved the report and two abstained.
Second Deputy House Speaker Pichet Chuamuangphan, who chaired the meeting, announced at 8pm that the House of Representatives had approved the report.
Before the meeting on Thursday, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat, who chairs the House committee, said that after the report received approval from the House, it would be submitted to the cabinet, which will weigh the pros and cons of opening such establishments in Thailand.
The cabinet would also consider measures to prevent or minimise the negative impact of having legalised casinos in the country, he added.
Julapan also said that the proposed entertainment complexes would feature casinos, hotels, shopping malls and amusement parks, and would each require at least 100 billion baht in investment. He believed the complexes would create jobs, boost tourism, and curb illegal gambling.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Thursday also voiced his support for legal casinos as a way to earn revenue from the country’s underground economy.
“We have to bring the grey [underground] economy into the light to allow us to control it, both for security and suitability. And we can collect taxes properly. I agree with this and believe it’s an important issue,” the prime minister said.
