Thailand’s Entertainment Complex Bill will likely be discussed by the House of Representatives for the first time next Wednesday 9 April as the government continues to push the legislation through at rapid pace.
According to The Bangkok Post, the timeline for House review was offered by chief government whip Wisut Chainarun, who stated that the bill could even be discussed as early as this week although parliament had not yet received confirmation on when it will be submitted.
The bill was approved by cabinet on 27 March.
Wisut did promised to give the bill sufficient time in the House but added that Coalition MPs were likely to give it the green light.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat stated Monday that the average land size for each entertainment complex is estimated at around 300 rai – equivalent to around 480,000 square meters or half the size of The Venetian Macao. The bill currently allows for gaming space to comprise a maximum of 10% of the total land area or the usable space of the entertainment complex building, whichever is smaller.
“Once this law is enacted, the project can start the piling work within three years,” Julapun said, as per The Bangkok Post.
He reiterated that the entertainment complexes would be developed in locations with existing tourist attractions in order to boost average spending per visitor.
In a lengthy deep dive into Thailand’s push to legalize casinos, Inside Asian Gaming has predicted only six international IR operators are likely to bid for a Thai license with almost all of them only interested in developing in Bangkok.
