The House of Representatives in Thailand voted overwhelming in favor of legalizing casinos in Thailand, following a very heated debate on the "Thailand Casino" issue in Bangkok's government house yesterday.
the Thai MPs voted 216 Yes and 23 No's with only one abstention, for allowing the opening of legal "Thailand Casino" venues thus approving a proposal that had been prepared by the special committee for banking, finance and monetary affairs, to start to allowing legal "Thailand Casino" and gambling operations in the Thai Kingdom.
During the heated debat different MP's listed Pro's and Contra's on the legal "Thailand Casino" topic.
Legal and well organized "Thailand Casino" business would create huge revenue for the Kingdom's state coffers, ranging from taxes and operating fees to attracting huge crowds of foreign tourists loaded with US-dollars, while at the same time keeping the money from local wealthy gamblers in the Kingdom instead of being spend across the Thai border in the many cross border casinos.
Allowing Casinos in Thailand would also eliminate many of the social problems and criminal mafia activities associated with the now ongoing illegal underground gambling dens in Thailand, hence reducing the workload of the Thai police force, while at the same time creating many new jobs in the casino and associated entertainment businesses.
On the contra site, it is a fact that without efficient prepared measures and laws to strongly regulate the coming casinos in Thailand, legal casinos in the country could lead to higher social problems and could very fast create a gambling habit among Thai youngsters, hence instead lead to a rise in crime and violence in Thailand.
A recent opinion poll of 5,800 Thai people of over 18 years of age, recently done by Thailand's National Statistics Office showed that 54% of the Thai population was against government-run casinos coupled with adjacent adult entertainment complexes, while only 30% of the Thais supported the idea and 16% had no no opion on the matter.
Yesterday's debate on the proposed casino legalization in Thailand started with MP Burin Hirunburana introducing the committee's report. He told The House of Representatives that the investigating panel had concluded that legalizing casinos in Thailand would help stamp out illegitimate businesses and criminals involved in illegal gambling.
The committee further strongly recommended that the Thai government should start educating the population that the big difference between illegal gambling and government run state casinos is that underground gambling dens are a criminal activity and casinos placed in entertainment centers are a form of recreation.
The casino supporting committee also came up with a contradictory opinion poll in which a huge majority of the Thais supported the ruling party's idea of allowing legalized casinos in Thailand. After hearing the report from the investigating committee, many government MPs spoke publicly out in support of allowing casino's on Thailand's soil.
Thai Rak Thai party's MP Pinit Chantarasurin said that the Thai people should be the ones left with the choice of entering a casino or not. Many developed countries all over the world and even in Muslim nations like Malaysia are allowing casinos, he said.
On which Democrat and Chat Pattana MPs expressed their opposition to the casino legislation.
Democrat MP Withaya Kaewparadai said that the committee's report appeared to be suspiciously in favor of legalizing the operation of casinos in Thailand, while Democrat MP Suwaroj Palang questioned the credibility of the committee's findings and their survey, in which they said 2,700 Thai people had been polled.
Chat Pattana MP Winai Sompong irately told yesterday's parliament session that the Thai government's duty was to curb vices such as gambling, not start promoting them in the country.
