News Forum - Betting on a bust! Former charter crew slam casino complex bill

[Thaiger]

An open letter from 30 ex-charter drafters has sent shockwaves through Bangkok’s corridors of power, as they warn that backing the casino-entertainment complex bill could breach ethical guidelines and jeopardise Thailand’s national strategy. The bill, which is set for a parliamentary vote on Wednesday’s first reading, has drawn fierce criticism from the group, including prominent … …

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[AussieBob]

So they are claiming that Singapore and Hong Kong and Macau and every western country with a Casino or two are evil States.  This to me means it is an even better idea than I thought - the elite old schoolers who have held Thailand back for decades are against it. Build two !  These are the old farts who think banning the sale of alcohol from 2pm to 5pm is a good idea.  Build one in Pattaya and one on Phuket !! Ban locals who are not wealthy (huge entrance fee for Thais) and let all the foreigners come in for free and spend/waste their money. Great for the Thai economy - and right now they desperately need it.  

[ParaMagic]

  On 4/7/2025 at 11:04 AM, AussieBob said:

So they are claiming that Singapore and Hong Kong and Macau and every western country with a Casino or two are evil States. 

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I agree with their assertion. If we are being honest with ourselves, we all know that gambling is not a good thing and can be called an evil practice. However, to reach a compromise, which is often needed in such matters, I can go along with the idea of making it a financial requirement to get into the casinos. Unlike the two tiered system of locals vs. foreigners access to Thailand national parks, for example, I would support making the high cost of casino entry requirements equal amongst everyone, locals and foreigners alike. Because let us all face it, if Thailand is going to continue to cling to the competition of receiving foreign tourists, they are going to be required to factor in this evil practice of gambling? Is Thailand really going to lose that many customers to other countries "Sin Cities?"

As a practicing Buddhist myself, I would look to promote other avenues of generating money...

[AussieBob]

  On 4/7/2025 at 6:27 PM, ParaMagic said:

I agree with their assertion. If we are being honest with ourselves, we all know that gambling is not a good thing and can be called an evil practice. However, to reach a compromise, which is often needed in such matters, I can go along with the idea of making it a financial requirement to get into the casinos. Unlike the two tiered system of locals vs. foreigners access to Thailand national parks, for example, I would support making the high cost of casino entry requirements equal amongst everyone, locals and foreigners alike. Because let us all face it, if Thailand is going to continue to cling to the competition of receiving foreign tourists, they are going to be required to factor in this evil practice of gambling? Is Thailand really going to lose that many customers to other countries "Sin Cities?"

As a practicing Buddhist myself, I would look to promote other avenues of generating money...

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Singapore and Maccau 'solved' or probably more 'lessened', the negative impacts of casinos in terms of people gambling away their money instead of buying food, by charging locals a very high fee (for the poorer) to enter. That makes a lot of sense and hos Thailand will do it too.  Remember that there is a huge amount of illegal gambling already occurring by a lot of Thais, with the profits going to illegals, Chinese and others.  At least with a casino the money goes to the Thai Govt and some of it is spent on things needed here. IMO the Govt should and will one day, implement online gambling systems - far better to have it run by the Govt than by criminals - because it aint going away - and then they can monitor and manage the downsides a lot better than when they are not involved.   

[ParaMagic]

  On 4/9/2025 at 7:29 AM, AussieBob said:

IMO the Govt should and will one day, implement online gambling systems

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Handing more people easy access to this via their smart phones... isn't likely to be too smart IMHO. However, the realist in me must agree with your overall assertions here.... Gambling, like the oldest profession in the world that is so popular here in Thailand, ain't go'in away anytime soon. Best to try and manage it the best that you can... which brings me back to my first point. Maybe it's best to coral gamblers into that casino style experience, rather than just a phone app?

[AussieBob]

  On 4/9/2025 at 7:57 AM, ParaMagic said:

Handing more people easy access to this via their smart phones... isn't likely to be too smart IMHO. However, the realist in me must agree with your overall assertions here.... Gambling, like the oldest profession in the world that is so popular here in Thailand, ain't go'in away anytime soon. Best to try and manage it the best that you can... which brings me back to my first point. Maybe it's best to coral gamblers into that casino style experience, rather than just a phone app?

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Good point about all accessing the casino, but I think controlled online gambling allows those who want to do it to gamble but not to lose too much.  There are online websites that give betters 100,000 tokens for $2 and they can therefore play/gamble and not lose too much quickly. If the online gambling is controlled by the Govt, they can limit what people can lose thought membership fees, token amounts, betting limits, etc etc. And they cannot get around that because they must provide ID to become a member.  But if they allow all Thais into a casino they could easily and quickly lose everything - it is not possible to control people once they are inside a casino. IMO the best 'solution' to what as you said is an inevitability, is to attempt to control what the local non-wealthy Thais are able to lose - casinos for wealthy, and online for the poorer ones.  One reason many Thais use loan sharks is their gambling on websites (and drugs) - the drugs are impossible to stop - but gambling in casinos and online can be controlled and the damage reduced.