Increased competition for tourists has led Thailand to revive a plan to introduce casinos, in spite of considerable opposition from Buddhist religious leaders and anti-gambling groups. The tourism and sports minister, Pracha Maleenont, said yesterday that the initiative to licence a casino in each of Thailand’s four regions was in response to Singapore’s intention to open two integrated resorts with casinos and the new Hong Kong Disneyland.

Chinese visitors, the mainstay of the Thai tourist industry, are expected to be diverted to Disneyland along with other foreign travellers. Casinos are thought to be the answer to boost tourism and help the economy recover from the devastating tsunami. It has been suggested that casinos should be located in two tourist centres, Phuket and Pattaya, and two in less popular places. Target visitors, apart from the Chinese, are the Japanese and Koreans, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is confident that tourist numbers can be increased before the end of the year by the promotion of other attractions such as Chiang Mai Night Safari and theme park scheduled to open in November.

Before casino legislation can be considered, TAT intends to do more to enhance the tourism industry. One plan recently unveiled is to issue more licences for duty-free shops in the three provinces worst affected by the tsunami – Phuket, Krabi and Phang Nga. On 20 April this year the Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, declared that the Thai government was not ready to think about gambling laws and that a referendum would be needed before casinos could be legalised. However, by the end of June he admitted that the country could have legal casinos in the future and has now authorised the Government Lottery Office to conduct a feasibility study and to report by the end of the year.

The pressing economic needs for the future of Thailand, just as in Singapore, would seem to be expanding the gaming industry to places in the world where, just a year ago, it would have seemed unlikely. With the example of Macau glittering temptingly in the distance, it is not surprising that Asian governments turn to gambling revenues to support their struggling economies. (E-09.09.05)

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