Another committee to study the legalisation of casinos formed in Thailand

The Thai House of Representatives has formed another committee to study the possibility of legalizing casinos. According to the local Bangkok Post, the committee included 60 parliamentarians. A new parliamentary group will look at ways to boost Thailand's economy, including the possibility of creating entertainment and regulated gaming establishments and cracking down on illegal casinos. 90 days are allotted to complete the task.

Let us recall that in 2021, the National Assembly established the first committee to legalize casinos. In January 2023, the report submitted by this committee on the legalization of casinos was established by the National Assembly.

According to the contents of the report, it was proposed to create integrated casino resorts in five regions of Thailand. However, Bangkok and Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), which includes cities such as Pattaya and Rayong, have been identified as the most suitable locations for opening gambling establishments.

According to representatives of the emergency committee, the casino area should have been no more than 5% of the total area of the casino resort, and the remaining facilities should have been five-star hotels, shopping centers, beauty salons and spas, amusement parks, zoos and stadiums.

Entrance to the casino will be open to foreigners and local residents aged 21 years and older. At the same time, residents of Thailand will have to prove that during the last six months they had at least 500 thousand Thai baht (15,120 US dollars) in their accounts.

It was proposed to tax the income of casinos that could be opened under concession agreements with private operators at a tax rate of 30%.