Thai Casino Bill on the Brink, Citizens Ambivalent

Posted on: April 28, 2025, 11:14h. 

Last updated on: April 28, 2025, 11:52h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.
  • More than 46% of Thai citizens don’t see bill advancing, with or without casino component
  • Similar percentage are apathetic about entertainment complex prospects

Thailand’s much-anticipated entertainment complex legislation may not advance as hoped, with or without the inclusion of casinos, and that would be just fine with close to half of respondents in a recent poll on the matter.

Thailand casino bill entertainment tourism
Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra speaks with reporters on Jan. 7, 2025, regarding her Cabinet’s 2025 policy goals. A casino bill is facing hurdles and isn’t widely supported by the public. (Image: Thai Newsroom)

The National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) surveyed 1,310 Thai citizens 18 years old and up, finding that 46.18% believe the entertainment complex bill currently pending in the lower house of parliament won’t advance, and that’s true even when casinos are stripped out. Nearly the same percentage — 45.73% — said they don’t care about the entertainment complex plan.

The survey arrives after Bhumjaithai Party Secretary General Chaichanok Chidchob said he won’t support gaming venues in the Southeast Asian country. The Bhumjaithai Party is the minority party while the ruling Pheu Thai Party backs casinos in Thailand.

Among the populace, there is some support for Chaichanok’s view, with nearly 36% of those queried by NIDA saying his stance is “righteous.” More than 56% said he’s either playing politics or that he’s not voicing the official stance of his party on casinos.

Thai Casino Bill Has Supporters

Entering this year, there was optimism in the gaming industry that Thai policymakers would rapidly advance the entertainment complex bill with the casino element as it’s supported at the highest levels of government, including by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Politicians and regulators supportive of the entertainment complex gambit were hoping momentum would build this year because they would like to see Thai gaming venues open prior to MGM Osaka. Ground broke on Japan’s first integrated resort last week with the venue slated to open in 2030.

Last month, Thailand named Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, and Phuket as the initial homes to regulated gaming venues, and speculation lingers that regulators could still award two permits to the capital city of Bangkok, also one of Southeast Asia’s biggest tourist destinations.

In search of credible growth outlets beyond Las Vegas and with licenses in Macau and Singapore wrapped up for years to come, the gaming industry likely wants to see the entertainment complex bill signed into law in the originally intended form. By some estimates, Thailand, when ramped up, could become the third-largest casino market in the world behind only Macau and Las Vegas.

Thai Casino Bill Stuck in Neutral

It remains to be seen what comes of the entertainment complex bill, but if Thai citizens are an accurate gauge, the outlook is grim. Just 27.24% view the entertainment venues and gaming establishments as equally important, while just 7.56% are focusing on the casino issue, according to the NIDA survey.

Fewer than a third of those polled believe the legislation will get past a first reading in the lower house with 19% saying it won’t be submitted to higher levels.

The NIDA survey indicates just one in five respondents queried view the Pheu Thai party as having the political sway to get the casino bill out of the lower house.