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Thailand sees Philippines’ gambling billions, Singapore’s resorts – and rolls the dice on casinos in hopes of cashing in

  • Thailand plans to take a punt on legalised gambling as it rues the billions of dollars in untapped gaming revenue that’s been left on the table
  • But the Buddhist kingdom will have to play its cards right if it wants to come out on top in the high-stakes contest for Southeast Asia’s gaming crown

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Industry insiders speculate a legalised gaming sector could rake in as much as US$5 billion a year for Thailand by the end of the decade. Image: Shutterstock/Kevin Wong

Somporn is a devout Buddhist, she doesn’t drink or smoke, is still working even in her seventies and is law-abiding in almost every way.

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Her one vice is gambling, illegal but rampant in Thailand – a multibillion-dollar shadow economy that runs the gamut from illicit streetside lotteries and underground casinos, to online poker and punts on Muay Thai bouts, cockfights and English Premier League football.

“This country has around 70 million people and I am sure at least half of them are gambling,” the 73-year-old told This Week in Asia, declining to give her full name owing to the illegality of her few dollars-a-day habit.

Yet few places exist in Thailand for people to gamble legally, aside from the state lottery or betting on horses at licensed race tracks.

That appears certain to change, however, as the Thai government wagers on legalised casinos to bring in a windfall of tourism, jobs and taxes.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is in a hurry to get the legislation moving, aware that it will take up to five years to carve out regulations, approve bids and then build the “integrated resorts” with their hotels, concert halls, conference centres and licensed gaming areas.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin wants to get the ball rolling on legalising casinos. Photo: AP
Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin wants to get the ball rolling on legalising casinos. Photo: AP

We do not want to promote gambling, but would rather supervise it and use the investment to create jobs,” Srettha wrote on social media platform X on March 29. “We can regulate the grey economy and collect taxes.”

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