National —
Thailand’s government has apparently decided to replace the 50-million-baht casino entry rule with a 3-year tax record requirement, according to Thai government sources.
On March 3rd, at Government House, Deputy Finance Minister Mr. Julapun Amornvivat provided an update on the draft legislation for integrated entertainment complexes. He stated that after the Office of the Council of State reviewed the draft, it has now been forwarded to the Secretariat of the Cabinet.
Mr. Julapun revealed that the draft will proceed with the necessary steps, including being examined by all relevant ministries before being presented to the Cabinet for approval. If approved, it will then be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration before the parliamentary session ends on April 11th.
Mr. Julapun confirmed that the draft law remains unchanged. However, certain aspects have been improved, such as the addition of stricter penalties, as recommended by legal experts.
When asked about the previous requirement that casino players must have at least 50 million baht to enter, Mr. Julapun stated that a review by the Ministry of Finance found that only 10,000 bank accounts met this requirement in the entire Kingdom of Thailand! Therefore, as an initial adjustment, the Office of the Council of State has proposed replacing the 50-million-baht requirement with an examination of a player’s tax payments over the past three years instead.
TPN Media notes it remains extremely unclear how a casino business would check three years of a players back taxes or how, say, a door bouncer would be expected to properly perform this function.
This adjustment is expected to increase the number of eligible players, Mr. Julapun said. However, the final decision rests with the House of Representatives. Thai Players will still be required to pay a 5,000-baht entry fee, and casinos can occupy only up to 10% of the total area within an integrated entertainment complex, Mr. Julapun stressed.
The Pattaya News notes that these are still only proposals and could certainly change as the ongoing debate over casinos has been heated, including an ongoing protest currently taking place in Bangkok from a group calling for the proposed laws to be scrapped entirely. We reported on that protest in detail here.
Recent national polls in Thailand have seemed to show that the majority of Thais oppose legalization of casinos, as we reported here.
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