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As the title of this video suggests we are discussing whether or not Thailand will legalise gambling, a question which remains to be seen. I thought of making this video because a lot has been going on in this space but in the past couple of weeks it has been a little quiet. I got to thinking of making this video after reading a recent article from The Edge Markets, that's theedgemarkets.com, the article is titled: As Thailand considers legalising gambling, should the Genting group be worried? I have never figured out how they pronounce that, Genting Highlands down in Malaysia. It's a major Casino operation down in Malaysia. I actually went there years ago, Genting Highlands and it was interesting. It was the first time I had ever set foot in a casino in Asia. For those who are unaware I actually worked my way through law school working in a casino so I have a little bit of insight into that industry. It was very interesting to go, for the first time to go to an Asian casino. I have been to Macau as well and that was an interesting experience. The only time I think I have ever played craps in Asia was in Macau, oddly enough; there were no craps tables down in Malaysia. Quoting directly: "Currently, apart from horse betting and Government-sponsored Thai lottery, all other types of gambling are prohibited. However, the winds of change may be coming with a proposal to legalise gambling discussed in Parliament in June. This comes shortly after the Government decriminalised cannabis in the same month." Yeah, that seems like, I won't say these things are linked per se but it I think the Cannabis issue does kind of shed some light on overall paradigm with respect to this issue as well. Quoting further: "Nevertheless, observers are divided on whether the Government will actually legalise gambling this time around." Quoting further: "A Bangkok based Economist who covers the Thai Economy believes that there is high possibility that the proposals could pass this time." Yeah just kind of, I think we have heard of this.

This has come up two or three times in my 15 years. Right when I was coming in 15 years ago they were talking about it then it kind of fell by the wayside. Then I want to say, I think under the Yingluck Government they were talking about it a little bit. I don't recall anything in between and now we are seeing this again but the tone, the kind of momentum and things feel a little different this time than either of the prior incidences where this got to be discussed a little bit at that time. Quoting further: "For one, legalizing the Casino business would help add to tax revenue." Yeah and I got to say, this is me talking, that has got to be a major concern. It is always a concern to Governments, tax revenue, and I have got to imagine tax revenue is substantially down after 2 years of basically having no Tourism. Quoting further: "According to news reports from Bangkok, the proposal comes amid efforts by Thailand to revive its Tourism Industry a bio-component of the economy, following the Covid-19 pandemic." Yeah, again the tax revenue is an issue. Tourism being revived is a major issue and obviously casinos would be one more arrow in the quiver of the Thailand Tourism Industry and their ability to attract tourists to this destination. Quoting further: "The establishment of legal casinos it is said, would be able to help generate billions of Baht from travellers, investors and locals. It would also help to cut down illegal gambling activities." 

As I have said before, this is a balanced thing. It can have a detrimental impact on the local economy to have legalised gambling especially in my opinion having one single sort of sinkhole, black hole, for gambling in a particular area. It is one of the reasons why in my opinion, smaller operations should be able to have sort of little kind of gaming activities. I think it was in an article in the Bangkok Post a couple of weeks back, they were talking about how there would be like major venues but then there would be this, the Excise Department may be able to allow people to provide gambling services but there would be an excise tax associated with that. Again if that is the case and you are looking at something where little operations could have a poker night or a bingo night and attract some folks into a little restaurant, an eatery, bar and grill, much like a quiz night or something, that brings in some people that's only beneficial I think at the end of the day. Meanwhile again I really do feel, I kind of empathize with the policy makers’ dilemma in all of this because you have to do this in a nuanced way. It has got to be very balanced. You have got to be very careful with gambling. It can have tremendous negative impacts on an overall society but at the same time, sometimes you have to look at the economic concerns and try to weigh both out. Hopefully, I really do hope policy makers here in Thailand continue to deliberate on this and come to a decision, come to a determination that will benefit as many people as possible here in Thailand and harm the least number of people in Thailand.