Big news from Thailand's legal casinos. The Ministry of Finance of Thailand has announced the results of the public hearing on the "Casino Law," proposing a minimum Thai capital ratio of 30% and limiting the number of casino operating licenses to no more than seven.
The Ministry of Finance suggests establishing a framework for foreign nominal shareholders, supporting the establishment of casinos in potential tourist areas including Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chonburi, Rayong, Hua Hin, and Bangkok, and stipulating that the legal casino area occupies 5-20% of the land.
The Thai government's policy to create a new economic engine has already formulated guidelines for the development of the "Entertainment Complex" business. The Cabinet had in principle approved this guideline as early as April 2024.
Furthermore, the Thai Cabinet has assigned the Ministry of Finance to study and draft the relevant legal bills and has established a committee to explore how to set up Entertainment Complexes to address illegal gambling issues and benefit the national economy.
Recently, the Ministry of Finance of Thailand has publicly solicited opinions on the "Entertainment Business Act" (referred to as the "Entertainment Law") and opened the collection of opinions on its official website from August 2 to August 18, 2024.
The draft of the "Entertainment Law" includes 9 chapters and 85 articles, with the core content aimed at integrating various types of tourism and entertainment venues in Thailand to better serve both Thai and foreign tourists.
The key content of the "Entertainment Law" draft stipulates that an "Entertainment Complex" refers to a business of various types of entertainment venues listed in the appendix of this law, including the business of legal casinos in Thailand. Meanwhile, a "casino" is defined as a specially designated place, allowing entry for activities within the legal scope.
Moreover, enterprises operating Entertainment Complexes must be limited liability companies or public companies registered in Thailand, with paid-up capital of no less than 10 billion Thai Baht.
Public companies obtaining licenses will be exempt from laws related to foreign business operations, and are not subject to Article 67 of the "Public Company Act" of 1992 and Clause 3 of Article 1105 of the "Civil and Commercial Code."
By directly controlling the "underground economy" through state-owned departments, Thailand can directly reduce the hidden illegal activities in society, moving from "grey areas" towards "regulated revenue," creating a directed revenue and recorded taxation.
This undoubtedly represents a stable and positive development trend for the security and order of Thai society.
