PUBLISHED : 20 Jan 2025 at 18:23
WRITER: Chairith Yonpiam and Aekarach Sattaburuth
MAHA SARAKHAM: Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on Monday slammed opponents of the government’s proposed casino-entertainment complex project, saying they were distorting the truth by calling it a casino.
Defending the policy, Thaksin said that most of the casino-entertainment scheme would be devoted to other attractions while gaming would account for less than 10% of the venues’ activities.
He said that at least 20,000 jobs would be created per location and each worker would be guaranteed to earn at least 20,000 baht a month. He said that those who called the entertainment complex a casino were spreading misinformation.
According to him, allowing a casino within an entertainment complex was first considered during the Thai Rak Thai administration, even before Singapore opened its first complex.
“But the idea faced strong opposition, especially from hypocrites, while Singapore went ahead. Now people better understand the concept, and we should move forward,” he said.
He made the comments while out on the campaign trail with a Pheu Thai candidate standing in the Feb 1 provincial administrative organisation election in Maha Sarakham.
Over the weekend, Thaksin, widely seen as the de facto leader of the ruling Pheu Thai, rejected a call for a public referendum on the legalisation of casinos after the cabinet approved the entertainment complex bill in principle last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, People’s Party (PP) MP Nont Paisanlimcharoenkit on Monday expressed concerns over the bill’s lack of mechanisms to prevent money laundering.
He said that the bill required licensed operators to be responsible for implementing anti-money laundering measures but without oversight it could lead to negligence on the government’s part.
The PP MP urged the government to introduce mechanisms to prevent money-laundering in the bill and require casinos to report financial transactions to a relevant committee for review and submission to the Anti-money Laundering Office (Amlo) for a greater transparency.
List-Democrat MP Jurin Laksanawisit, also speaking on Monday, said that the controversial project should be put up for a public referendum to justify a plan that had not been part of its election manifesto.
Senator Nantana Nantavaropas said the Senate was awaiting further details before provide input on not only the economy but also the social issues likely to arise.
On the call for the project to be decided by public vote, she said a public referendum would come at a high cost and have to address complex details. However, if these challenges could be overcome, a referendum would be welcome.
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