Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Casinos. We have been discussing this, this has kind of been a little pet issue if you want to call it that, a pet topic of mine for a number of years here in Thailand. I actually worked when I was a younger guy and definitely a lot thinner guy in a casino. I worked in the gaming industry while I went through law school and even shortly thereafter. I have been in that industry and I have definitely seen it firsthand so I can say that there are pros and cons to it and the pros are substantial in some cases and the cons are substantial in some cases and any analysis of the possibility of legalization of gambling should be scrutinized heavily, I will put it that way. 

Now that said, a recent article from ASEAN NOW, that is aseannow.com, the article is titled: Parliament agrees to set up "Casino Commission" - idea to get gambling money from foreign tourists gains momentum. Quoting directly: "The latest plan to open a legal Casino in Thailand to get money from foreign tourists is picking up steam at a fast rate." Quoting further: "Following a debate in the house last week, there was widespread cross-party consensus and many comments from leading politicians in support of the idea. It has now been decided to set up a Commission. The vote for this shows the level of support the idea is garnering. (This was notable) 310 for, 9 against and 10 abstentions." So that is a pretty strong vote of favorability at least in favor of at least studying the issue. Quoting further: "The Commission will be cross-party reported Sanook (ASEAN NOW is translating and passing information and passing information along from Sanook) and has 90 days to report its findings." So it will be interesting to watch this evolve. 

I am kind of a big believer that a single Casino may not be the best way to go. If you are going to do things with gaming, in my opinion there are big pros and cons, there is big ups and downs sides. You have to really analyze everything especially in the context of the local jurisdiction and here in Thailand I am sure they will do that through the lens of what is best for Thailand at a very detailed level I expect actually. That said, it has been my experience just having been in multiple jurisdictions where gaming is legal and having worked in the industry, a single venue if you will can actually in some cases be the worst of all worlds because it has a lot of the cons and it doesn't if you will spread around the economic boon. So for example, and who knows how this will play out, and I am just kind of engaging in some speculation here, but if they came up with for example a licensing scheme where for example small venues for example bars or maybe even restaurants or something like this could have like one table where people can play cards for example poker or something. I mean this was, I don't know now what this is like in the US, but at one time I remember in the States there was sort of almost a fad; a lot of poker was played in a lot of places, not casino gambling but just played kind of for fun; you would prizes or whatever. I can see multiple different ways of approaching the issue of gaming in Thailand and there are ways in which gaming can be very beneficial even at a very street level, a grassroots level sort of an SME level. At the same time, obviously state actors, Parliament, the Government are going to want tax revenue. When you have got one venue that you can go to, to just get your tax money out of, it does make it easier.

Now that said, I can see it run both ways. I will be very interested to see how this commission analyzes the overall issue and I will be very curious to watch how exactly if this comes to pass and it is not a foregone conclusion we will ever see gambling in Thailand. They may decide it is not the best thing for the country. That said, if they do, it will be interesting to see what the analysis is about what is best for Thailand and we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as a situation evolves.