Thailand releases a draft of rules for integrated resort casinos

 Thailand is getting casinos now that the government has put out draft rules for IRs for everyone to comment on.
 Thailand built a casino into a resort
 Draft rules for how integrated resorts will work in Thailand were made public so that people could comment on them until August 18.  The country has been talking about allowing casinos for a while now. In March of this year, members of the house passed a draft of the Entertainment Complex Bill.

 In the first rules, licenses were good for 30 years.  Operators will be looked at every five years, and each renewal time lasts for a maximum of ten years.

 There will be a policy committee and an executive committee for Thailand's casinos. The prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, will be in charge of the executive committee and making sure that the process of launching the casinos goes smoothly.  The Comprehensive Entertainment Commission is a new government body that will be in charge of day-to-day rules.

 At first, the Thai casinos project will be run by a government group led by the prime minister.  The finance minister, the tourism and sports minister, the social development and human security minister, the trade minister, the interior minister, the justice minister, and the commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police will all be there.

 How much do companies have to pay to run casinos in Thailand?
 To get their first licence, operators have to pay an initial 5bn baht (£110.9m/€129.4m/$141.9m) plus a 100,000 baht application fee.

 The fees are 1bn baht a year, and companies who want to renew their licenses will have to pay 5bn baht again.  The 1bn baht annual fee is also charged for all renewed licenses, and owners who need a second license must pay 100,000 baht for each one. 

 Thai people also have to pay a fee every time they go into an integrated resort casino.  It will cost 5,000 baht to enter from each person.  In terms of taxes, the current draft rules don't have any exact numbers yet.

 You can't just have casinos in one resort. The resort needs to have at least four other entertainment companies, like a restaurant, amusement park, department store, hotel, or space to promote Thai culture.  Thai casinos must also be in a certain area, as spelt out in a Royal Decree.

 At the moment, Thailand only has state-run horse races and lotteries that are legal forms of gaming.  However, illegal gaming, such as underground casinos, is common all over the country.

 Thailand finally has integrated villas after a long wait. 
 People in Thailand have been talking about legalising casinos for a long time, but there hasn't been much progress in making this happen.  There were more hopes when Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin took office last summer. He was in favour of legalisation.

 The Thai market hasn't even opened yet, but there's already talk that it could become a big hub for casino gaming.  One analyst said the Thai gaming business might make more money than Singapore's in terms of gross gaming revenue.

 There should be a lot of interest in people who want to apply for integrated resort licenses, since well-known owners are already talking up the chance.

 Who could think about Thailand?
 MGM Resorts International is one of the companies that wants to build a casino in Thailand.  After the company announced its Q2 results, CEO Bill Hornbuckle said again that it was interested in the Thai market and said that he would be visiting the country this month to look for a "opportunity."

 "We're interested in that business idea."  He also said, "If we do that, we'll do it through MGM China Holdings."

 At the beginning of this year, Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings also talked about a possible move to Thailand during a Q1 results call.  He said that the group would "closely watch the legalisation process move forward."

 Robert Goldstein, CEO and head of Las Vegas Sands, said similar things on the group's Q1 call.  He said that the company "definitely is interested in Thailand."

 "In many ways, it's a very, very exciting market."  "Just the sheer number of people who live there, how easy it is to get to, and how willing people are to travel there," he said.  "It's clear that I think it's the best city in Asia for vacations."  Even though it's early, we still need to work on the numbers and getting a sense of what's going on.

 But Bloomberry Resorts Corporation denied rumours that it might be able to open a new casino in Thailand.  This came after news that the company was also thinking about taking this action if the country decided to allow integrated resorts.