Minister provides some specifics on how “entertainment compounds” may become created and regulated.
According to Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat, the results of a research on an integrated leisure complex and game development program are scheduled to be presented to the government for concern over the next two weeks.
Mr. Julapun serves on the House committee that is looking into the potential of an integral leisure complex in a bid to legalize casino gambling. On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to review the study’s conclusions.
If the findings are approved by the government, Mr. Julapun said on Friday that it would designate a particular government agency to handle the task.
The following review legislation would need to be approved by the legislature.
He claimed that the scope of the entertainment complexes ‘ legislation would only permit gambling in certain locations ( on site ) within the jurisdiction. Online gaming would not be permitted because the government is unable to regulate it, especially in terms of preventing the participation of minors.
Mr. Julapun claimed that the committee’s recommendations were detailed entertainment complexes rather than just casinos.
He cited Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands included beach and entertainment complex as an example. He claimed that the committee discovered that it had considerably reduced illegal gambling and had saved the Singapore state the equivalent of 300 billion baht over the previous ten years. Tourism and other money earned by people are not included in the figure.
Only 2.5 % of the place within the Marina Bay intricate is designated for gambling hobbies, with the remaining allocated to other pursuits, he stressed.
Mr. Julapun compared Thailand to Singapore, claiming that Thailand has a number of foreign tourists and several other important benefits, including tourist destinations, system, and better infrastructure. So, Thailand has the potential to generate more revenue from leisure facilities than neighbouring nations.
Also, many Thais have travelled to overspend in neighbouring countries.
According to Mr. Julapun, entertainment complexes do n’t necessarily need to be in far-off places. Instead, they should be areas that possess easy transportation infrastructure such as energy or higher- speed trains, along with tourist destinations.
After an area has been identified as appropriate for an integrated pleasure advanced, there may be a need for ongoing project growth, depending on the suitability of each area. For example, some areas might include theme parks, while others may have buildings to accommodate Mice ( meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions ) events or indoor stadiums, he said.
There would be rules preventing Thais who fall below a certain income level from entering the establishment to lessen the effects of playing. This might necessitate the levying of entrance fees.
Also, minors would be prohibited, and if an child caused a bad effect on his or her home due to gambling, community members would be able to lodge a complaint to prevent them from entering the grounds.
Regarding the revenue that the state would receive in addition to corporate taxes and gambling taxes, Mr. Julapun claimed a portion of the profits would go toward a designated fund to be used for specific purposes, such as drug addiction treatment and education, which would be similar to the Singapore model.
He claimed that the Singapore fund has been able to accumulate 4 to 5 billion baht annually, with a similar sum likely to materialize in Thailand.