Thailand’s government will withdraw a bill to legalise entertainment complexes with casinos, said on Monday Visuth Chainaroon, an MP for the Pheu Thai Party in the country’s coalition government, and who is also chief government whip.
The information was given to reporters, according to media reports, confirming earlier commentary on the likelihood of the measure being dropped from the parliamentary agenda.
A motion to withdraw the Entertainment Complex Bill from the current session of parliament will be moved on Wednesday (July 9). That had been the date previously mentioned by the government for a deliberation of the bill in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Thai parliament.
The Nation news outlet on Monday cited Mr Visuth saying that the decision was not driven by political pressure.
“This is not about being afraid of anything. I’ve already explained to everyone that we must help the public understand the reasoning behind this move and allow the current momentum to subside before proceeding” with any such legislation, he was quoted saying.
The news outlet said that when the whip was asked whether such a legalisation measure might be reintroduced later, Mr Visuth said it was too early to say.
The suspension, announced on July 1, of Paetongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister of Thailand’s current coalition government had the potential to set back the country’s casino-resort legalisation effort, several commentators have suggested to GGRAsia. Her suspension followed controversy over a June phone call with Hun Sen, a former prime minister of Cambodia, that was subsequently leaked.
The Thai government has also been buffeted by a mid-June decision of the Bhumjaithai Party – which had been the second-largest grouping in the coalition after Pheu Thai – to withdraw from the government, citing the leaked phone call as a factor. Bhumjaithai’s exit reduced the coalition’s majority in parliament.
Interior Minister Phumtham Wechayachai assumed the role of caretaker prime minister on July 3. Ms Shinawatra has 15 days to respond the Constitutional Court after it agreed to suspend her relating to allegations of dishonesty and breaching ethical standards over the phone call.
