Thailand’s House of Representatives – the lower chamber in the National Assembly – voted on Thursday to set up a 60-member “extraordinary committee” to look into a proposal to set up casino complexes in Thailand, the idea being to attract foreign visitors and create fresh income for the country, reported respectively several local media outlets.
The committee would include 15 representatives from Thailand’s cabinet, and 45 members drawn from across the nation’s political parties, the media reports said. It is anticipated the group would complete its study in “90 days”.
The committee would have to look into “moral issues” related to casinos, and what form of legal framework could ensure proper regulation and taxation of casino businesses, said Thailand’s deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam as cited by the Bangkok Post newspaper.
Legalising casino gambling has been a subject of controversy in the Buddhist kingdom in recent years. Several of the Southeast Asia nations neighbouring Thailand – namely Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia – have legal gambling venues.
