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The President of the Thai Hotels Association, Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, has voiced concerns over the government’s plan to develop entertainment complexes with casinos in Thailand’s major tourist hubs. Speaking at a roundtable hosted by the Thai-language newspaper Krungthep Turakij, he advocated for these complexes to be built in secondary cities instead, arguing that it would help alleviate overtourism issues while boosting regional economies.
The Case Against Major Tourist Hubs
Thienprasit raised specific concerns about Phuket and Pattaya and the strain that casino development would place on infrastructure and resources in both cities. The government has named Phuket and Pattaya among four possible sites for casinos, the others being Bangkok and Chiang Mai. He pointed out some of the problematic conditions of these tourist sites, like existing traffic and water shortages in Pattaya, particularly during peak summer seasons.
“Tourist attractions like Universal Studios theme parks are located outside major cities, and there are no casinos there,” drawing his examples with the international sight of entertainment complexes placed outside urban areas. A major exception he left unsaid would be Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa, which combines a casino with other attractions within a major city.
Thienprasit states that entertainment complexes at these hot tourist spots would rather hinder than foster sustainable growth.
A Push for Secondary Cities
Rather than existing tourist hubs, Thienprasit said secondary cities would fairly be expected to benefit considerably from the establishment of entertainment complexes. He argued that it would get the visitors to other destinations, spreading money to the entire country instead of concentrating on a few selected areas.
This line of intervention fits well into the Thai government’s goals of promoting sustainable tourism and reducing dependencies on traditional hotspots. By putting casinos and other attractions in the cities that are not popular, the government could create new travel corridors and new offerings in its tourism.
Public Vote: A Democratic Approach
Thienprasit has also suggested that the matter of where to site these entertainment complexes ought to be decided through public voting.
He believes that this will provide transparency and allow local communities a voice in developments that could affect their daily lives and environment. “If entertainment complexes are to be built in places like Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya, they should be subject to a public referendum,” he said during the roundtable discussion. This also projects the rising calls for greater inclusivity in decision-making in the context of various tourism and infrastructure projects in Thailand.
Balancing Growth with Sustainability
The discussions on the location of Thailand’s first legal casinos demonstrate the struggle between economic growth against sustainability. On the one hand, places like Bangkok and Phuket offer the advantage of existing infrastructure and tourist customer flow; on the other hand, secondary cities are an option to diverge the benefit of tourism more equally throughout the country.
The introduction of casinos through the entertainment complex bill will put the Thai government in a position to weigh these competing advantages very carefully. The granting of public voice and secondary prestige of cities will contribute uniquely to the ongoing discussions on the vitally important path to executing this massively transformative endeavor.
What Lies Ahead: A Strategic Choice
With the imminent finalization taking for the casino set up by the government, Thienprasit’s recommendations would serve to accelerate the quick development of Thailand’s gaming. The decision regarding established tourist centers or underdeveloped cities will have future consequences on tourism and local economies.
For the moment, with regard to how Thailand will steer through these cataclysmic decisions that may change and affirm its reputation as a large tourism pole in the world, sustainability and equity are major concerns on the agenda.
Source: Inside Asian Gaming (IAG)
