Thailand’s ex-PM, Thaksin Shinawatra, father of Thailand’s newly elected Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, and also a member of the current PM’s party, has announced his support for the legalisation of casinos in Thailand. 

According to Thai media, the points were mentioned as part of his key visions for resolving the country’s issues, which the ex-PM outlined during the “Vision for Thailand” event organised by Nation Group.

The points were quoted as the following: “2. Legalising the underground economy: Thailand has a substantial underground economy, currently estimated to be about 50% of the official economy. If this can be brought above ground, the GDP could increase by 50%, particularly by legalising online gambling, where Thais currently lose TBH 170bn ($4.99bn) annually.”

“4. Entertainment complexes: This involves a significant investment of hundreds of billions of baht and could include casinos, occupying no more than 10% of the area.”

This would be reassuring news to stakeholders and investors, following the dismissal of Thailand’s former Prime Minister on 15 August.

Former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was a major supporter of the casino bill, which would legalise casinos and gambling in Thailand. The Government had been pushing for the legalisation of said ‘casino bill,’ shortly before Thavasin’s dismissal.

When new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was elected, there were questions about whether the ‘casino bill’ would remain, since there was staunch opposition to the bill among her supporters. One of them was Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, the second-largest party in the coalition.

Among those who had expressed interest in Thailand after the drafting of the casino bill were four of Macau’s ‘Big Six’ concessionaires.