Thailand wants to use casinos to 'lure' tourists, what about Vietnam?

Corona Casino System in Phu Quoc - Kien Giang

A casino can bring in billions of dollars

Reuters news agency reported that a 60-member committee of government and opposition lawmakers has just submitted to the Thai House of Representatives a study on legalizing casinos.

According to Mr. Sorawong Thienthong - vice chairman of the committee, the study proposed that private companies would shoulder the costs of building and operating entertainment complexes including casinos, while Government of Thailand will be responsible for tax and operational regulations. Local and foreign companies with experience in the field are expected to be responsible for the majority of the investment, with the minimum investment for a large complex estimated to be around 100 billion baht ($2.79 billion).

Although no information was provided on the number of complexes or their specific locations, the research unit suggested that the complex should be located at a key tourist destination and within 100 km of the airport.

Mr Sorawong said the study could be considered for parliamentary approval on March 28. The aim is to finalise the law and start issuing licenses to investors during the current government term.

Previously, in July 2022, a committee of the Thai National Assembly also proposed that the Government issue a decree allowing entertainment complexes including legal casinos to be built in major cities across the country.

The proposal comes as the tourism sector, a key sector of the country's economy, needs to recover after the pandemic. Reviving the tourism sector is key to reviving the entire Thai economy as the country's tourism sector has been severely affected. On the other hand, many Thais who want to gamble have to go abroad because Thailand currently has no casinos.

Research at the time estimated that the decree could help Thailand attract billions of dollars in foreign investment, tourists, and even domestic gamblers if approved and implemented. At the same time, it could put the land of golden temples in strong competition with the "gambling capital" of Macau.

Casinos in Vietnam operate at a loss due to few visitors and high operating costs.

"Weapons still in storage" in Vietnam

In Vietnam today, casinos are only for foreigners. Allowing Vietnamese people to play is only being piloted in Phu Quoc and Van Don, but they must meet all conditions (personal status, age, financial capacity, and behavioral capacity).

According to the Ministry of Finance's report, there are currently 9 casino projects in operation nationwide, including 6 small-scale casinos and 3 large-scale casinos. In addition, there are 2 projects under construction according to investment law regulations, but have not yet been put into casino business due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, so the implementation is slow, there are difficulties in negotiating and selecting partners, and managing casino business.

In the period of 2019 - 2021, revenue from casino business activities decreased due to the impact of the epidemic, with no foreign visitors. From 2022, foreign visitors began to return. In 2023, the budget contribution was VND 2,541 billion, an increase of 56% compared to 2022, 1.8 times higher than before the epidemic and created about 8,500 jobs. However, the number of Vietnamese visitors is showing a significant downward trend and casinos are still operating at a loss due to large depreciation costs and interest payments in the early stages.

At the end of 2020, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also proposed to the National Assembly to allow a pilot casino in 5-star hotels and allow Vietnamese people aged 18 and over with full capacity and financial capacity to participate. This is considered a preferential policy for tourism investment, aiming to form an international and regional entertainment area in Ho Chi Minh City. However, the proposal seems to have been forgotten so far.

Vietnam tourism experts believe that in order to develop trade and services, especially the night-time economy, casinos and casino complexes are important weapons. However, when mentioning casinos, people often only think of casinos and give them negative views while in fact casino complexes include many services. For example, Marina Bay and Sentosa in Singapore only have a very small area of ​​casinos, the rest are hotels, offices for rent, shopping malls, entertainment services, cinema, music... This is a complex of extremely diverse entertainment services, creating great attraction and "huge" revenue.

Returning to Vietnam, the participation of the casino system not only helps hotels and entertainment areas have more facilities, tools, and increase revenue, but also helps Ho Chi Minh City diversify its product and service system to retain tourists. More importantly, although we do not encourage it, in reality, there are hundreds and thousands of underground casinos that still exist on a very large scale that cannot be controlled. And every year, Vietnamese people still bring billions of dollars to Cambodia, Singapore, and the US to play.

With strict conditions to limit Vietnamese people from going to casinos and at the same time not encouraging development, casinos are still considered "weapons in storage" in Vietnam.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/thai-lan-lai-muon-dung-casino-de-du-khach-du-lich-viet-nam-thi-sao-185240317170631466.htm