BANGKOK, Thailand – “Chaimongkol” blasts the government for thoughtlessly opening casinos, claiming it will deceive the public. He challenges Pheu Thai to make it a policy in their 2030 campaign to see how the public reacts.
Chaimongkol Chairob, a Member of Parliament from Sakon Nakhon District 5 and Deputy Leader of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), commented on the draft of the Entertainment Complex Business Bill, stating that the idea of opening casinos in Thailand is a major issue that would have wide-ranging social impacts. He explained that the PPRP must highlight the drawbacks of having casinos in the country and raise awareness among the public, as the government has never addressed these concerns and continues to make misleading claims about the benefits. He also pointed out that Chinese President Xi Jinping had already warned Prime Minister Paethongtarn Shinawatra about the potential issues related to entertainment complexes, but the Thai government ignored such advice.
Chaimongkol further explained that entertainment complexes consist of two parts: above-ground and underground. He had no objection to the idea of an entertainment complex being a complete tourist center with hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues, but the inclusion of a casino was a problem. Despite the government claiming that the casino would only occupy 10% of the area, Chaimongkol emphasized that it would be the main focus of the project, bringing along various societal problems like drug issues, crime, and economic troubles. He likened it to the state lottery, which initially claimed the funds would be used to develop the country but has since failed to deliver tangible results.
“Today, I see that the government is desperate to raise money through gambling to develop the country, instead of coming up with more stable and sustainable policies that could increase the people’s income and solve the economic problems. They are resorting to opening casinos, which will only deceive the public and create more societal problems. If they insist on doing this, they should open it in a province like Nong Bua Lamphu, which is not a tourist destination and has a lack of income. Instead, they are choosing places like Chiang Mai and Phuket, which are already popular tourist destinations. This is not the right way to solve the country’s problems,” said Chaimongkol.
He also called on all coalition parties to consider the future of the country’s children and work together to stop the bill. If Pheu Thai is so eager to legalize casinos, he challenged them to wait until the 2027 election and make it a central campaign policy, declaring that if people choose the Pheu Thai Party, casinos will be legalized immediately. He expressed his curiosity about how many people would actually support such a proposal. (TNA)
