‘A drastic drop in consumer spending fuelled by the current cost of living and interest rate environment, coupled with increases in labour and operational costs have all had too great of a compounding impact on our business,’ he said. The conclusion of a public hearing conducted online over a bill to establish a “mega entertainment complex” housing a casino showed 80% of participants agreed with the plan, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said. Meanwhile, the Queensland government has been accused of helping block the release of a probity report into company Chow Tai Fook Enterprises’ suitability to operate the Queen’s Wharf casino, days before its opening.
Several Thai governments have pushed to legalise gambling before to try to boost jobs and state revenues and draw more foreign tourists, but each attempt met pushback from conservatives in the Buddhist majority country. Her ally and predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, was the main proponent of the latest casino push but was removed from office by a court decision last month. One of its first advocates was influential billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose youngest daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sworn in as prime minister last month.
In Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar and the Philippines have legalised casinos, some of which are located on the other side of Thailand’s borders, catering overwhelmingly to Thai and Chinese customers, many on weekend junkets. Paetongtarn’s ruling Pheu Thai Party has argued Thailand has fallen behind its neighbours in the gaming industry. Should you adored this post in addition to you desire to get more information with regards to IVIP9 kindly check out the page. Her father Thaksin is widely seen as a major force behind her government and in a dinner speech last month backed the casino plan, noting the potential benefits from regulating and taxing online gambling and formalising the larger underground economy.
(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty) BANGKOK, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Thailand’s new government will move ahead with plans to introduce casinos after a public hearing showed strong support to create a big entertainment complex offering gambling, a senior official said on Thursday.