Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Casino Legislation here in the Kingdom. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: PM Reaffirms Casino Bill Defence. Quoting directly: "Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has once again defended the entertainment Complex-Casino bill, saying that facts about the draft law are being distorted to mislead the public into believing it would legalize casinos nationwide." 

I urge those who are watching this video, go check out that article in more detail, as they go into why people think this, her thoughts on it. I still stand sort of in this weird ambivalent position I continue to stand in, which is I can see the arguments for both sides of this thing. I just don't necessarily, depending on the day, you will find me saying, well I kind of lean this way, I kind of lean that way. More and more, I truly have serious qualms about gambling in Thailand. Again, it is antithetical to a lot of the sort of societal notions, philosophical notions that underpin Thai Society, most notably Buddhism if nothing else, just the entire philosophy of Buddhism is pretty well antithetical to the notion of gambling, and because Buddhism has such a massive impact on Thai Society and including on Thai legal thinking, it stands to reason why one might think Casinos in Thailand are not such a great idea. Again, there could be benefits: more tourism, again tax revenue etc., but the downsides are many as well. Societal ills, all kinds of social problems, - it's a vice at the end of the day. People have problems, there are problem gamblers, and they have all kinds of problems that oftentimes will have tangential ramifications for those around them. 

That said, quoting further: "She has now officially instructed the Government Agencies across the country to help improve public understanding of the bill during the two-month-long Parliamentary recess, which begins tomorrow." So they were talking about voting on this before the recess. Now it looks like we are going into recess. They are not going to vote on it, so the soonest we will likely see a vote would be in the next Open Session which is going to be a couple of months from now at a bare minimum.

Again, it remains to be seen whether or not there will be obstacles put in the path of this legislation between now and then. Maybe a Court chimes in on it, and then, that said, even if nothing happens there, it is not a foregone conclusion we will see this thing passed in the next session. That being said, we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.