Academics call for referendum on entertainment complex policy

Nonarit Bisonyabut, a senior researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), urged the government to minimise the policy's negative effects, particularly regarding corruption and money laundering.

He cautioned that issuing licenses to select business operators could lead to monopolies and exploitation. He added that the policy committee should enforce strict mechanisms to regulate operators and prevent societal harm.

"I agree with other academics that this bill should go to a referendum. At the very least, we need to gather local residents' opinions," he said.

He also advised the government to prepare a report outlining how it plans to address public concerns.

Clear and strict measures

Although the entertainment complex bill was modeled after Singapore’s success, the director of Chulalongkorn University’s Centre for Gambling Studies pointed out that Thailand has not adopted Singapore’s mechanisms to mitigate societal risks.

Nualnoi Treerat warned that the casino industry could pose significant risks to Thailand, emphasising the need for strict measures such as restricting certain groups of visitors. She also noted that the bill lacks provisions to support gambling addicts.

Singapore has screened its entire population and banned 300,000 individuals from accessing casino services, she said.

Singapore’s success, she added, is attributed to clear laws, strict enforcement, public awareness and effective measures to assist gambling addicts.

"No matter how good or bad the law is, the casino industry in many countries has been proven to increase the number of gambling addicts. So how do we address the well-being of those who lose to gambling?" she asked.

Decline in economic growth

Chittawan Chanakul, a lecturer at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Economics, argued that a low level of corruption and a relatively small low-income population are key indicators of a country’s readiness to establish an entertainment complex.

She noted that corruption signals weak law enforcement, citing Thailand’s drop to 107th place in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index.

"When a country lacks an effective government mechanism to regulate business operations, gambling and casinos—industries that should be strictly controlled—can turn into unregulated gambling, leading to serious crime problems," she warned.

She also pointed to foreign studies indicating that gambling and casinos could reduce economic growth by 1% while significantly increasing crime rates.

Chittawan urged the government to hold a referendum to gauge public opinion and mitigate societal impacts. She also called for improvements to the bill to minimise corruption risks, such as setting a minimum licence fee of 5 billion baht.

Call for law improvement

Thanakorn Komkrit, secretary-general of the Stop Gambling Foundation, criticised the unclear conditions regarding the offering of credit to gamblers, the lack of a regulatory agency to mitigate the impact and the absence of local participation.

He urged the government to impose stricter and clearer laws to prevent the increase of gambling and boost public confidence. He also emphasised that the government should conduct a referendum to gather public opinion.

He further advised the government to update the Gambling Act, which has been in place for 90 years, to make it more modern and aligned with the entertainment complex policy.

“I’m not sure if this legislation is intended to create a new special economic zone, but without strong supervision, it could become an area where many laws are exempted, benefiting only special interest groups,” he said.