Thailand Releases Draft Bill for Casino Legalisation

Thailand’s future casino regulatory body will be based in Bangkok with branches located strategically around the country, reporting directly to a new Policy Committee to be chaired by the Prime Minister, a draft casino bill made public on last Friday reveals.

It also outlines a multi-level approach by which the Policy Committee will be supported by an Executive Committee tasked with establishing the budgetary and staffing entitlements of the regulator itself.

The 22-page draft bill is currently open for public feedback until 18 August, having been released by Thailand’s Council of State after months of discussions.

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According to the bill, key to formally legalising “integrated entertainment venues” with casinos in Thailand will be establishing an office to regulate them with a stated purpose to “regulate, supervise, control, promote, and support integrated entertainment venues in accordance” with the Act.

This regulatory body “will have its head office in Bangkok and will establish branches or representatives at any other place as necessary,” the bill says.

Among its stated tasks are supervising, inspecting and monitoring the operations of integrated entertainment venues, addressing public complaints, preventing and remedying “impacts” arising from the venues, and determining the characteristics of individuals prohibited from entering a casino area.

In charge of establishing key casino policy, including those around management, the issuance of licenses, tax rates, permitted business nature, entry levies and restrictions, employee criteria, executive criteria and permitted casino floor space, will be the Policy Committee – to be chaired by Thailand’s Prime Minister and with the Deputy Prime Minister as Vice Chairman.

It will also comprise nine senior government officials as directors including the Minister of Finance, Minister of Tourism and Sports, Minister of Social Development and Human Security, Minister of Commerce, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Justice, Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Secretary-General of the National Defense Commission and Secretary-General of the Board of Investment, plus six qualified members appointed by the Prime Minister “with knowledge and ability in economics business administration, law or society.”

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Those six expert committee members must be Thai nationals and at least 35 years of age. They must not be a government official or an employee of any state agency, have previously held political positions, hold any criminal record or be “an incompetent person or a quasi-incompetent person.”

The Executive Committee, working under the Policy Committee, will be chaired by a person appointed by the Prime Minister and boast nine permanent secretaries from the aforementioned ministries and departments, plus three expert members also appointed by the PM.

According to the bill, licensees will be granted an initial 30-year license term, reviewable every five years, while there are 10 business types listed that can form part of Thailand’s “integrated entertainment venues” – Department store; Hotel; Restaurant, nightclub, discotheque, pub or bar; Stadium; Yacht and Cruising Club; Gaming; Swimming pools and water parks; Amusement park; Area for promoting Thai culture and OTOP products; Other businesses as specified by the Policy Committee.