Six hospitality companies are offering to run a series of Thai entertainment complexes if the Thai government legalises gambling, Bangkok newspaper The Nation reports.
Each of the companies is understood to be able to raise a minimum of $2.9bn to invest in the resorts, a government spokesperson said.
The complexes will depend on Thailand’s National Assembly passing the Entertainment Complex Business Bill, a draft of which the Thai cabinet approved on Monday.
The aim is to legalise the country’s gambling industry so the state can take a piece of the action through a gambling tax.
The underground gambling industry in Thailand is thought to be worth about $9bn, making it the third largest in the world, behind the US and Macao.
The spokesperson declined to reveal who the interested companies were, but said all had experience of managing large venues.
He also said casinos would make up only 5% of the area of the entertainment complexes.
“We want to create comprehensive tourist destinations suitable for families, similar to successful models in Singapore, Macau and Las Vegas,” he said.
Each complex will have hotels with at least 5,000 rooms, convention and exhibition centres, an indoor sports arena with up to 16,000 seats, a concert hall, shopping malls, duty-free shops, and theme parks.
The complexes would be located in tourist destinations on state-owned land covering at least 50ha; they would also have good transport connections and the necessary digital services.
He added: “Thailand needs to act quickly as we will be competing with Osaka, Japan, which is about to open a similar resort. Businesses see high potential in Thailand due to its existing tourism and infrastructure.”
Osaka was chosen by the Japanese government as the site of the country’s first casino. This will be part of a $13.5bn resort complex that will be built on Yumeshima, a reclaimed island in Osaka Bay (see further reading).
Thailand’s Finance Ministry estimates its entertainment complexes will boost national GDP by 0.2% during construction and by 0.7% once they are operational. The resorts are expected to create 20,000 jobs and boost low-season tourism by up to 10%.
- Subscribe here to get stories about construction around the world in your inbox three times a week
Further reading:
