Thailand’s Central Bank reports that the country’s economy will continue to rebound in 2022; but recovery has been slow amidst threats of new variant outbreaks. As was noted in the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT’s) last policy meeting, the country’s ranking as the second largest economy in Southeast Asia remains fragile. The slow growth of 1.6% posted in 2021, is one of the slowest rates recorded by countries in the region. That being the case, calls for legalizing casinos in Thailand have been renewed, which many say will help the country’s tourism industry quickly regain its previous footing.
Thai Legislators Push for Legalizing Integrated Casinos
Thailand has long been perceived as having the potential to establish a legal casino industry. More so now that the Centers for Gambling Research in Thailand revealed that about 57% of the nation’s adult population engage in some form of gambling in and outside of Thailand. The casinos in Poipet, Cambodia are cited as clear examples of gambling venues that cater to mostly Thai customers.
As it is, aside from the predominantly Islamic countries of indonesia and Brunei, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country that has no legal land-based casino to offer its visitors as well as its citizens.
Yet, as far as gambling among Thai locals are concerned, the research center found out that a huge percentage of gambling activities in the country are mostly connected with underground lotteries and with online gambling platforms, particularly for football betting The attraction posed by these two illegal gambling sectors is that both offer greater rewards and greater chances of winning.
Why Integrated Resort Casinos will Find it Hard to Compete with Thailand’s Underground Lotteries
Small underground lotteries offer propositions on nearly everything lottery operators could think of; not only on actual outcomes of national lottery draws and final scores of specific football competitions Even bus tickets in Thailand carry opportunities to win from lottery draws.
Everyday, Thai devotees pray with Buddhist monks whose main function is to recommend lottery numbers. The national government does not have to worry about Thai gamblers flocking to integrated resorts because most of them would rather visit Buddhist temples to seek lottery-number guidance.
Reputable Online Casinos Can Impact the Success of Integrated Resort Casinos
Thai lawmakers are contemplating on legalizing casinos that limit casino participation only to foreigners and to Thai gamblers who can afford to pay entry fees.
If so, such conditions give local gamblers more reason to stick to gambling online, which they can easily do so by way of proprietary mobile phone applications. Through the mobile app, gamblers approved to join the website can acces the gaming products using a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN connection gives customers peace of mind that they can engage in slot play and other casino betting games, without fear of being detected or monitored.
Today, gambling is already ubiquitous but internationally licensed online casinos pay hefty regulatory fees to keep their reputations intact. After all, an untarnished reputation as a trustworthy online gambling platform is a critical tool to stay afloat in the highly competitive and growing global online gambling industry.
That being the case, many will welcome the Thai government’s measures and actions in weeding out unlicensed and unregulated, fly-by-night online gambling sites whose main preys are vulnerable customers like gambling addicts and minors.
The Thai parliament has overwhelmingly voted for the establishment of an Executive Committee to closely scrutinize the good and bad in allowing Thailand’s top resorts to integrate casinos in their operations.
Another thing that committee members should not overlook is that nowadays, topnotch integrated resorts like Solaire and Resorts World are also offering live online casino games as special privileges to qualified customers.