Thailand Casino Bill Delayed Amid Opposition
Skift Take
Thailand postpones casino bill debate amid opposition, while major hotel groups including IHG, Accor, and BWH expand across India.
The parliamentary debate on Thailand’s Entertainment Complex casino bill was supposed to take place today. The government had expressed confidence it would fly through its first reading in the lower chamber. Thailand’s Prime Minister made a surprise announcement that the debate would be postponed until the next session. Some of the media said the decision by Paetongtarn Shinawatra was due to the growing opposition and protests to the bill, while others said it was a reaction to the trade wars that are going on right now. Didn’t we just hear commentary from some government officials that Thailand must get these casino resorts approved so they can offset any impact from the trade wars? There is a lot of opposition to the bill along with the way the government is handling what they hope will be the eventual legalization. We told you that this was not going to go smoothly because legalizing casinos, whether it be in an Asian country or a US state, never goes as planned.
