Thailand plans to record and monitor financial transactions of visitors to casinos to deter money laundering, officials said on Wednesday, as the government sought to win over opponents of a bill to legalise gambling venues as part of new integrated resorts.
The country will enforce rules for responsible gaming, including a ban on casino advertising and denial of entry for individuals deemed to carry “financial risks”, said Suksit Srichomkhwan, deputy secretary-general to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Thailand’s gaming regulations will be modelled on those of Singapore, Japan and the United Arab Emirates, which limit the number of licences and require massive investments, Mr Suksit told a briefing in Bangkok. Each entertainment complex in Thailand will require a minimum investment of 100 billion baht, he said.
The Paetongtarn administration was forced to delay a bill to legalise casinos earlier this year due to mounting opposition from religious groups, anti-gambling networks and some political parties.
The government has pitched integrated entertainment complexes as a way to burnish the appeal of the tourism industry, a key pillar of Thailand’s economy that has begun to wobble this year.
If the bill is passed, it could pave way for Thailand to capture a slice of the growing global gaming market alongside Macau and Singapore, and tap into another potential growth engine to galvanise its sluggish economy.
US-based Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International are among the major international players who have shown interest in investing in Thai casinos, according to officials.
The so-called entertainment complexes could increase foreign tourist arrivals by between 5% and 20% and lift average spending per person per trip by about 22,000 baht, Mr Suksit said.
But critics of the casino plan have argued the gaming venues will fuel gambling addiction and benefit big businesses and foreign companies, besides them turning into avenues for money laundering.
“Money laundering will be almost impossible in these premises” due to stringent surveillance, Mr Suksit said. “Even the operators want to compete in a strictly regulated environment.”
The draft legislation proposes that casinos take up only 10% of the spaces within each integrated entertainment complex, which will be required to house at least four other types of businesses.
It also proposes stringent entry requirements for Thai citizens, including proof that they have 50 million baht in bank deposits. However, finance ministry officials have acknowledged that this limit is unrealistically high and could be revised downward.
The government is not in a hurry to push through the bill as it is committed to ensuring the legislation is “clean and clear”, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said.
The entertainment complexes can be a new engine to drive growth amid rising geopolitical challenges, he said, adding that the aim is to pass the bill at some point in the remaining two years of its tenure.
