Thai cabinet approves controversial casino bill

Thailand's cabinet approved a controversial bill today (13 January) to legalise gambling in designated "entertainment complexes" to boost tourism and create jobs.

The proposed law would allow casinos to be set up within tourism complexes that would also include theme parks, water parks, hotels and shopping malls.

Gambling in Thailand is currently only legal on certain state-run horse races and an official lottery, but illicit betting is widespread.

"The objectives are to increase revenue, support investment in Thailand and solve illegal gambling," Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra told reporters.

The bill will go to the Office of the Council of State for drafting before being debated and voted on by lawmakers in parliament -- a process that will likely take months.

Since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, which hammered Thailand's crucial tourism industry, the kingdom has launched numerous strategies to lure more visitors, such as cutting visa requirements for Chinese and Indian travellers.

Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said the government hopes the entertainment complexes will ultimately boost tourist numbers by 5%-10% and create up to 15,000 new jobs.

The location for the proposed complexes, and the timetable for their construction, have not been announced.

Conservative forces in Buddhist-majority Thailand have long resisted moves to legalise gambling, even as shady casino complexes have sprung up in neighbouring Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime warned in a report last year that Southeast Asia's casinos were "foundational pieces of the banking architecture used by organised crime" to launder massive volumes of money.