Thailand’s Council of State, an advisory body on the country’s laws, has been given “50 days” to finish reviewing the Entertainment Complex Bill – that proposes purpose-built tourism facilities with casinos – before the measure is sent to the lower house of the National Assembly for discussion.
That is according to a Tuesday report from the Bangkok Post, citing Pakorn Nilprapunt, secretary-general of the Council of State.
The 50-day review period had been agreed by Thailand’s cabinet, with the bill to be “treated as urgent” business, Mr Pakorn said, as cited in the report.
The cabinet approved the bill in principle on January 13 at a weekly meeting. The same day, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, mentioned the review period for the Council of State.
According to an earlier report by The Nation, another Thai media outlet, the Council of State had already noted reservations about the bill, including a perceived lack of clarity respectively on the measure’s aims; the definition of what constitutes an entertainment complex; and how the problem of existing illegal gambling would be addressed by casino resort legalisation. The Council of State’s concerns were also reported by the Bangkok Post.
Thailand’s Finance Ministry is supporting the bill as an economic driver, projecting increased tourism revenue of up to THB475.5 billion (US$13.7 billion) annually. The ministry also suggested an entertainment complex sector could create thousands of fresh jobs, and provide government revenue gains in a range of THB12 billion to THB39 billion per year.
The draft of the bill as most recently discussed in public, proposes casino licences running for 30 years, with the possibility of renewal for a further 10 years. Each casino resort would require at least THB100 billion in investment.
Casino resorts in the country could only be operated by a limited company or a public limited company registered in Thailand, which would need to have paid-up capital of at least THB10 billion.
The bill also outlines other forms of business permitted in the entertainment complexes aside from gaming. They include hotels, conference centres and tourism attractions.
