GGRAsia – Turf Club eyes US$5.9bln Thai casino scheme bet: report

Turf Club eyes US$5.9bln Thai casino scheme bet: report

Aug 27, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

The Royal Turf Club of Thailand, a sports club with historical links to the country’s army and monarchy, is reportedly interested in investing THB200 billion (US$5.88 billion) in an “entertainment complex”, according to a Monday report in the country’s The Nation newspaper.

The report, which refers to the project as being titled the Royal Siam Haven, mentions the proposed scheme as having a casino as well as a horse racecourse, a six-star hotel, a golf course, a yacht club, luxury dining options, a theatre, a medical tourism hospital and a “learning centre”. Historically the club ran horse racing from a site in Bangkok.

The report cited Patvee Surin, a representative of the Turf Club, as telling a company linked to the Nation Group that a memorandum of understanding had been signed with investment partners.

According to the news outlet, the proposed location of the complex is yet to be disclosed, but the newspaper said, citing the club representative, that it would “cover a vast area”.

The outlet mentioned that the club “joins a group of five foreign and four Thai investors showing interest in developing entertainment complexes in Thailand”.

The report said that Thansettakij, a media arm of the Nation Group, had already reported that other prominent local entities, including U-Tapao International Aviation Co Ltd (UTA), Charoen Pokphand Group Co Ltd (CP Group) and The Mall Group, were also planning entertainment complexes in Thailand.

The news outlet said UTA’s project was to support the growth of the Eastern Economic Corridor and U-Tapao Airport.

It added that CP Group plans to develop a complex in Bangkok’s Makkasan subdistrict in line with the economic corridor’s high-speed rail project connecting three major airports, namely Don Mueang, the old international airport for Bangkok; Suvarnabhumi, the new international airport; and U-Tapao.

The Mall Group’s complex would be part of a BHT50-billion mixed-use project in Bangkok’s Bang Na district, which according to The Nation should be partially opened next year.

The Mall Group also aims to develop an entertainment complex as part of the BHT20-billion BLÚ Pearl mixed-use project in Phuket’s Kathu district.

The Nation said five major international investors – Las Vegas Sands Corp, Wynn Resorts Ltd, Caesars Entertainment Inc, MGM China Holdings Ltd and the Hard Rock brand – “have shown interest in entering Thailand’s entertainment complex market”.

Bill Hornbuckle, chief executive and president of MGM Resorts International, the United States-based parent of Macau casino operator MGM China, had said on the group’s second-quarter earnings call that any push by the brand for a Thailand project would be via the MGM China business.

In July, brokerage CLSA Ltd said in a report it believed four out of Macau’s six casino brands – namely Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, Las Vegas Sands, MGM, and Wynn Resorts – were interested in pursuing investment in Thailand.

Thailand’s draft bill on casino legalisation states that aside from a casino, a large-scale entertainment must contain “at least” four other types of entertainment businesses. The list encompasses hotels; restaurants, bars and nightclubs; sport stadiums; yacht and cruise clubs; department stores; water parks; amusement parks; and venues for promoting Thai culture.