Legal Thai casinos risk surge in addiction, corruption, crime: Experts
Opposition MPs and govt legal advisors sound alarm after Cabinet gives green light to draft Entertainment Complex Act
Experts on Tuesday warned of the risks of legalised gambling in Thailand, a day after the Cabinet green-lighted a draft law to legalise casinos.
The Cabinet approved the draft Entertainment Complex Business Act in principle on Monday, despite public concern that it could spark a surge in gambling addictions rather than boosting tourism.
The draft law aims to legalise the kingdom’s vast underground gambling industry, allowing the establishment of entertainment complexes and casinos to generate tax revenue.
The Council of State has voiced opposition to the bill, saying its focus on casinos fails to address the issue of illegal gambling.
“Building entertainment complexes will not directly address illegal gambling. If the government wants to do so, it should focus on other issues, such as the gambling mindset, which is already covered by gambling laws,” said Pakorn Nilprapunt, secretary-general of the Council of State, the government’s legal advisory body.
Opposition MP Rangsiman Rome, who chairs the House committee on national security, border affairs, and strategy, warned the bill could trigger gambling addictions and money laundering.
He cautioned that casino projects, whose operators must have registered capital of at least 10 billion baht, would be dominated by large multinationals at the expense of Thai benefits.
He noted that the government is already grappling with Chinese criminal enterprises running online scams and call centre gangs, adding that licensing and location selection of casinos would invite corruption.
He added that legal casinos would be limited to specific areas, meaning they would not replace illegal gambling dens across the country.
Additionally, the casino entry fee of 4,000-5,000 baht for Thai gamblers would make it cheaper for them to travel to Singapore or Macau. Any competitive edge through legalising casinos would thus be lost, he said.
Rangsiman’s committee has noted that Thailand is also a transit point for transnational crime, with over 6,000 victims from 20-plus countries lured to Thailand by traffickers to work for scam operations in neighbouring countries.
