A majority of Thais still oppose the development of entertainment complexes (ECs) with casinos, according to a new poll by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA). However, the number of respondents to voice outright opposition to both has fallen since the start of the year.
The survey garnered the opinions of 1,310 people between 16 and 18 June and found that 56.72% of people said they opposed both ECs and casinos – down from around 59% who voiced opposition in a January NIDA poll.
Another 24.12% said they support both – also down from around 29% – while 8.78% said they support ECs without a casino and 1.37% a casino only. More than 8% of respondents offered no opinion on the issue, according to local media reports on the poll.
A series of follow-up questions to the 56.72% of people who said they opposed both ECs and casinos found that 84.15% of respondents still opposed both even if fully funded by private investment with no government budget allocated. Another 11.31% said they supported ECs without casinos under this structure and only 3.26% supported both.
Similarly, when asked for their response should the government impose strict anti-money laundering and casino entry measures, 81.47% opposed both and 10.49% supported ECs without casinos, with 6.18% supporting both.
On the issue of holding a national referendum on the topic, 61.60% support the notion while 30.08% opposed it. The remainder either offered no opinion or no answer on the matter.
While the number of people opposing ECs with casinos has fallen since January, 57% oppose both a casino and an EC, and nearly 9% an EC without a casino.
These numbers, along with the fact that ECs and casinos were treated as two separatable offerings by the designers of the survey which shows that even the NIDA’s understanding of the EC operating model is flawed, suggests that much more work needs to be done in educating the public of Thailand on exactly what an EC is and why the casino component is a necessary economic engine for such developments.
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