Transcript of the above video:

Yeah, it's unfortunate; we are talking about Thai Gaming Policy. I don't really want to be talking about it in this context but I have had a number of folks ask me about it. I think it is a relevant question. For those who are unaware there was a recent fire at one of the border casinos which for those who are unaware, Cambodia has legalized gambling, Thailand doesn't, at least they don't have legalized casino gambling. As we have noted in other videos, lottery and racing are both legal here in Thailand under certain circumstances but casino gambling is not legal and there are a number of folks, especially Thai nationals that live relatively close to the border that like to go across the border into Cambodia and engage in gambling there and then return home or whatever hopefully with their winnings, although if the odds are anything to go by, probably not with their winnings. But this is really not something to joke around about insofar as yeah it was a major tragedy. There was a fire at one of the casinos up in Poi Phet and I believe a number of Thais died and that is certainly tragic, our hearts and prayers are with those folks, it is really not good. 

The question posed is would this have an impact on gaming policy? I think it would be naïve to presume that folks that are examining the current situation and the laws on gambling in Thailand wouldn't take this into account. I think there is a strong argument to be made that it would probably have been better off that folks could go to a legal venue in Thailand that was probably regulated. Look at the end of the day, and I am not trying to cast aspersions on Cambodia but it does not have the same level of infrastructure as Thailand by any stretch of the imagination; it definitely does not have the compliance mechanisms that are in place in Thailand especially dealing with things like fire safety as has been evidenced by this fire itself. Now that said, it is not as if Thailand doesn't have fires, it can happen but as far as the measures that are put in place to prevent such things, Thailand definitely has much more infrastructure in those terms than does Cambodia. Again not trying to cast aspersions anywhere just is what it is. I have actually been to the Border casinos in Poi Phet in the past personally and again this was over a decade ago that I was last there and I am sure they have changed probably substantially but I remember thinking at the time that yeah it was kind of a “seat-of-the-pants” kind of operation; it was set up in my opinion, there were buildings and things but it was kind of an ad hoc set up; it definitely didn't have any level of infrastructure that I was ever used to when going to a casino and bear in mind I worked in a casino for almost 5 years when I was in Law School, when I was in Law School and after Law School for that matter, so I had been around casinos before, this wasn't anything like I had ever seen. Now that said, could it impact Thai policy on gambling? As we have noted in other videos, Thailand is really looking at especially policy makers in Thailand are really looking at the possibility of bringing gambling into Thailand. Now exactly how that gambling comes remains to be seen. 

As we have discussed in other videos on this channel, my thinking on this is just one singular Casino probably not the best thing for the country because casinos can be a real sinkhole in terms of economic activity. They can just suck in a lot of the capital that is sort of around them in the various communities and can have a very detrimental impact. I mean look there are upsides and downsides to casino gaming. Tax revenue oftentimes is viewed especially by the Government as the upside but the downside is that revenue is garnered by people losing money oftentimes in the casino and those people that lose money live in that community. My opinion is something a little bit more mixed would probably be a better thing for Thailand where things like card rooms, for example poker rooms, could be run kind of at a more lower level within the economy or even having gaming licenses not dissimilar to like Sri Lanka has where you can get like kind of a gaming license that is for maybe one or two little games, something like this. I think that could be much more beneficial for the country insofar as it would allow kind of a sharing of the wealth so to speak that could be garnered from these casinos and garnered from gambling. But again, bear in mind gambling is not something to bring online lightly especially in a jurisdiction that hasn't had it in quite some time or ever. For that reason it's definitely something to think long and hard about. But is it possible that the situation that occurred up at the border may make policy makers to rethink gaming policy in Thailand? I think it's definitely a distinct possibility.