The Thai cabinet on January 13 proposed a bill that would legalize gambling in designated areas in a bid to boost Thailand’s tourism sector and create more jobs.
The controversial bill would allow casinos to open in tourist-heavy areas such as hotels, shopping malls and water parks. The plan, if implemented, could boost tourism by 5 to 10 percent and create about 15,000 jobs, said Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat. In Thailand, only government-run horse racing and lottery are legal, but illegal gambling is widespread.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the proposed gambling bill is a government investment to boost national income and is aimed at eliminating illegal gambling. The bill will be reviewed by the State Counsellor’s Council before being approved by parliament after months of debate. Many in Buddhist-majority Thailand have long opposed legalising gambling.
In the meantime, illegal casinos and online fraud gangs have proliferated in neighbouring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and people are being smuggled through Thailand to work for these gangs. A report last year by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that Southeast Asian casinos are a “systematic and criminal money laundering operation”.
