Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are asking the question, "so in this casino discussion, now it's going to be foreigners are going to own casinos out right here in Thailand?" Let's just get into it. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: The ins and outs of legal casinos. Quoting directly: "Tip-apa Limvichai, a partner at Thai Law firm Chandler MHM, said to address concerns about the negative impacts of casinos, the bill imposes strict operational and ownership regulations on casinos and their operators. For example, it prohibits operators from offering online gambling services that are not located on their premises." Quoting further: "Casino operators must be Thai-registered companies with at least 10 billion baht in capital." So no, it would be a Thai-registered company okay, with at least 10 billion baht in registered capital. Let's keep going though. "Licenses are valid for 30 years," - so it would appear under the proposed legislation with renewal possible for a further 10 years." Quoting further: "Operators are required to maintain a specific ratio of Thai to foreign employees." 

So, as we have discussed in other videos - especially as it pertains to standard Work Permits in Thailand - there are ratios of for example four to one Thai to foreign employees. So talking about a ratio sort of thing, unless we are talking about a higher number of Thai employees to foreign, that's not big news, okay. If it just is the usual four to one, well we have had that since I have ever been here. It's my understanding it's been in effect for nearly 50 years now, if not definitely a solid 40 years. That said, quoting further, and this is the key point. Quote: "While the draft Act does not restrict foreign-majority ownership, amendments may be introduced during the legislative process, said Ms. Tip-apa." What's that?

I mean okay, look, for the record for folks who don't know, I am a naturalized Thai and I know it sometimes makes especially foreigners angry when they watch this channel, that I do, maybe I drank the Thai Kool-Aid, I've gone native as they sometimes say, but yeah, this is some serious stuff here. If foreigners are able to own a majority of a Thai Casino, I don't see where there's any real benefit at all to Thailand in that kind of setup. I mean what does Thailand get out of it? As we have discussed in other videos, even with what I imagine was probably pretty creative lobbyist induced math, they could only come up with the fact that these casinos in an optimal setting are only going to add about 0.8% to Thai GDP, which when you look at it in pure baht or dollar terms, yeah that's probably a pretty big number, but when you look at it as part of the overall sort of GDP of the country, and then cross reference that with all of the negative consequences of casinos, it's a hard sell even if these things were going to be Thai owned.

Now we are looking at a scenario where these things are going to be foreign owned? What's the point of that? The foreigners are just going to get all the benefit. They're going to suck out money from Thailand, frankly money that's going to - look, I've worked in the Casino Industry. I've been on the ground in it. I have dealt Blackjack, I have dealt the carnival games, I have dealt craps, I have dealt poker; poker isn't really like house games, what we call house games, but again I've been on the ground in the casino pits. I've seen this stuff. People that are not otherwise addicted to gambling or don't know that they are a gambling addict right now, will soon find out they are a gambling addict when it legalizes; that's just a fact. When it's illegal, there is a certain kind of person that just won't engage in the activity because it's illegal, and some of those people don't know they are addicted gamblers. When it legalizes, believe me you find out who is an addicted gambler real quick and oftentimes it's the least person you'd expect. The other thing that often happens, as you see old people, especially lonely old people, a lot of money gets sucked out of those people because it's a safe place they can go; it's something they can do; they can be entertained. Casinos are if anything safe, because they are protecting their investment; they are protecting their money.

But again I don't necessarily have, or I can live with certain of those kind of drawbacks, maybe in a scenario where these would be Thai-owned institutions but where it's going to be foreign owned, I mean this is just a recipe for foreigners to just hollow out our sustenance here in Thailand. I have got real problems with this. If this goes through with a codicil in it that allows foreign majority ownership of a casino in Thailand, I don't see how that benefits Thailand in any way, shape, or form.