In July 2022, in a report to the National Assembly, committee members recommended that the government OK “entertainment complexes” with casino gaming in several locations around the country. Its tongue-twister of a name pretty much sums up its purpose and end goal: the Ad-hoc Committee on the Consideration of the Opening of Entertainment Complex, the Collection of Revenue and Taxes from the Legal Casino, the Prevention and the Solution of Illegal Gambling, Widespread Electric Gambling Machines and Online Gambling. Six other Thai customers remain among the missing.Īccording to GGRAsia, in 2020 the Thai parliament formed a committee to study the matter and compile a feasibility report. Of 26 people confirmed killed last month in a casino fire in Poipet, Cambodia, just across the border from Thailand, 19 were Thai nationals.
A reported 95 percent of Thai residents practice Buddhism, a faith that frowns on gambling.įor now, Thai gamblers who want to gamble legally can visit casinos in bordering countries where the activity is legal: Laos, Malaysia and Cambodia. The issue is a controversial one in the kingdom, where resistance based on religious reasons could be a barrier. Last week, the parliament of Thailand received a study on the efficacy of legal casinos and online gaming in the country.
