Thailand Committee Wraps up Overview of Casino Resorts

Thailand seems more confident by the day in passing legalization that will allow the country to launch its first legal casinos. According to a report by the Bangkok Post, a parliamentary committee that is assessing the feasibility of the project, there is a good chance that the country may realize its potential insofar as the casino sector is concerned.

Committee Completes Assessment of Casino Feasibility

In fact, the findings have already been approved by the committee, which is effectively giving green light to the next stages of potential development. The publication confirmed that the process took extensive work as at least 24 meetings were held to discuss the results and potential implications for Thailand should it choose to pursue a path to introducing casino resorts.

All results, findings, and decisions of the committee should be presented to the House speaker this week. According to the Bangkok Post, the work of the parliamentary committee is sufficient, as it provides a detailed breakdown of everything – from tax collection, to how gambling can have an adverse impact on society, to what mitigation policies may be introduced.

The committee discussed the potential impact on biodiversity in the potential locations of casinos, different formats of investment involving local and overseas partners, and how casinos can be part of integrated casino resorts similar to the business model employed in South Korea, and soon, Japan.

While Thailand is behind Japan in looking into the matter of casino resorts, there seems to be much less internal strife on a regulatory and local level. In fact, the committee is confident that it can successfully pitch up to five casino resorts to the country’s government.

Securing Funding and Garnering Sufficient Political Backing

Approval by parliament would be necessary though to proceed with any further measures. Not least, there will have to be investors who are willing to spend a pretty penny on helping build these resorts.

In Japan, the cost of such casino resorts is estimated to cost anything between $10 billion and $12 billion, which could be even more challenging to achieve now that the pandemic is disrupting global supply chains and putting tourism and traveling in a precarious state.

However, there may be parties that are already interested. In June, Bernstein said that Las Vegas Sands is most likely exploring the option of entering Thailand’s new integrated resort space, even though neither the legislative grounds for this nor the company’s own intent has been confirmed.

Las Vegas Sands divested heavily in Las Vegas, Nevada, though, collecting a strong war chest to allow it operations elsewhere.