Governments can’t ignore gambling
As world leaders are increasingly pushing gambling and crypto to the forefront of politics with the realization that regulated markets could bring in major revenue, Thailand’s recent move to make its future casinos inaccessible to most Thais has received instant criticism.
met with both internal and external concern
Despite a major win for Sino-Thai relations in a crackdown on Myanmar’s hellish scam centers last week, a new draft regulation for Thailand’s integrated resort casinos was met with both internal and external concern.
The draft circulated by Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government requires nationals to prove they have at least THB50m ($1.48m) in fixed deposits for at least six months in their bank accounts to enter the proposed IRCs.
According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s Deputy PM and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said it would be hard for the draft to win the approval of the Thai cabinet because it didn’t address local illegal gambling.
Genting Singapore, meanwhile, said Sunday night that it would be “difficult to commit” to entering the IRC market if locals were off the table.
Potential investors paying attention
The Genting Group’s Singapore arm is, according to Inside Asian Gaming, the first Asian IRC operator to host an earnings call since Paetongtarn’s government released the IRC draft.
Genting Singapore told analysts on Sunday via a note from Japanese investment banking giant Nomura that “it will be difficult to commit to a high IR capex if the market size is reduced to mainly foreign-only visitors.”
Genting, which also owns and operates Resorts World Las Vegas, shares common ground with fellow US casino giants Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts in jockeying for a potential Thailand IRC license.
An additional restriction in the IRC draft could give Genting and the other potential US investors further reason to reconsider their pitches, namely that the proposal demands the casino area of IRCs take up no more than 10% of the overall complex space.
Internal rifts amid regional wins
That the Thai Deputy PM has criticized the proposal to exclude the majority of locals from IRCs is, perhaps, inevitable given reports of a rift between Paentongtarn’s Pheu Thai Party and Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party.
The Bhumjaithai Party is Pheu Thai’s largest partner in the coalition that came to power late last year. Anutin confirmed the foreigners-only stance on IRCs would be discussed at a cabinet meeting.
The internal in-fighting comes, however, after Paentongtarn’s government made major breakthrough last week. The Thai PM’s government was instrumental in freeing over 7,000 workers from Myanmar’s scam call centers after political pressure from China.