Mainland China consumers are likely to be important clients for a Thai casino industry, but recent regional experience shows that Thailand should not build such a sector around them.
Risk factors included China’s ongoing campaign against its citizens going overseas to gamble, and the state of diplomatic relations between countries across the region.
That was one of the topics covered in a panel session at the Thai Entertainment Complex Summit in the Thai capital, Bangkok, discussing the potential for that country if it legalises casino business.
The session was on how a Thai casino industry might impact existing Asia-Pacific markets, and how it might appeal to regional consumers.
Chinese customers were “critically important” for “virtually every gaming market across Asia,” said Vitaly Umansky (pictured, second left), senior research analyst at Seaport Research Partners.
In terms of general Chinese tourism to Thailand, China Daily reported on October 10, that during China’s October Golden Week, from October 1 to October 7, mainland visitors had been the largest-single source market for Thailand’s tourism market, with 160,000 travellers.
The news outlet added that from March 1 – when a mutual visa exemption policy between China and Thailand was implemented – to September 22 this year, more than 5.1 million Chinese tourists had visited Thailand.
Mr Umansky noted that one issue was whether any Chinese players coming eventually to a Thailand casino industry, would be new-to-market, or Chinese drawn from other regional casino markets such as Cambodia, Vietnam, or Macau.
Aside from that, said Mr Umansky, was that the Thai-locals market would also be “critically important”.
Angela HanLee, Asia-Pacific gaming and leisure analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, gave further perspective on the Chinese consumer topic.
“The Chinese government knows that Chinese people [like to] gamble, but… probably doesn’t want people to gamble outside China,” she noted.
“They [the Chinese authorities] still want to keep this gambling money and gambling tax and related expenses in their own country. And of course, Macau is an offshore city, but still part of China,” she added.
Ben Lee (pictured, left), managing partner of IGamiX Management and Consulting Ltd, stated during the panel session, referring to a nascent Thai casino market: “You don’t want to be fully dependent on Chinese business.”
He attributed a 2016 diplomatic dispute between China and South Korea – on the latter’s deployment on its own soil, of U.S.-supplied missiles – as a reason for a decline at that time, of Chinese tourism to South Korea.
Mr Lee asserted South Korea’s foreigner-only casinos – only one venue is open to locals – “used to target the Japanese and the Taiwanese, but because the Americans stationed missiles in South Korea, China all of a sudden closed the gates and that market evaporated.”
He added: “Since then, the Korean casinos have had to struggle to get back to the original Japanese and Taiwan” customers.
Mr Umansky observed that for Thailand’s potential casino industry, “outside the local market, you can’t pin your hopes on any specific jurisdiction”.
He added: “I think China is the one that’s most volatile.”
