Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing gambling in Thailand. As we have discussed in other videos on this channel, gambling is something that has come to the forefront here in the past few months. There was a commission which was brought together I believe toward the beginning of the year and basically its function was to study whether or not gambling could or should be brought online here in Thailand, especially legalized gambling, casinos etc. It appears as though things are sort of moving with sort of positive momentum, moving toward the possibility that gambling may be legalized here in Thailand which brings us to the reason for the video. 

I am making this video after reading a recent article from European Gaming, europeangaming.eu, and the article is titled: Chinese Embassy in Thailand Flags Cross-Border Gambling. Quoting directly: "The Chinese Embassy in Thailand disclosed that some Chinese nationals approached it for help to protect them from a gambling racket in Thailand. According to the Embassy, the Chinese citizens had complained about losses to their personal safety and property. The Embassy states from the outset: "Chinese law clearly stipulates that participation in gambling, including cross-border gambling, is suspected to be criminal and those in serious cases will be held legally responsible. Thailand is preparing to legalize casinos and gambling." 

So interesting. I did not know this before reading this article and I urge those who are watching this video go check that out but yeah, I did not know that China even views gambling outside of China as a problem amongst its citizenry. So it appears that if you leave China to go gamble, that's not something they really want to see. I don't know how that works exactly from an enforcement perspective but you know, it is what it is. That said, it is interesting to note that with all this talk of the possibility of legalized gambling here in Thailand, there are other major players in the region who are sitting up and taking notice and it remains to be seen how exactly this will play out here in Thailand.

My personal opinion as I have discussed in other videos on this channel, I would kind of like to see it but I would like to see it done right. As I have noted before, just having a major Casino complex that just acts as sort of an economic sinkhole in terms of gambling, that can be really problematic. But if it is legalized and certain aspects of gambling are allowed at sort of a lower level if you will. As we have discussed, maybe a bar can have a couple of slot machines or maybe a card table in a given bar and grill or restaurant or something because activities like that can draw crowds and it can bring in people to venues that may have problems especially coming off of all this lockdown and stuff, may have problems getting back on their feet. It might not be a terrible idea to do whatever we can to try to promote as much tourism as we can and also try to spread some of that economic activity around rather again than just having a “black hole” in the form of one single Casino sort of sucking up all that revenue.