Category: iGamingBusiness.com

Thailand pauses march toward casino resort legalization to get regulatory structure right

Thailand’s headlong, haphazard effort to legalize casino resorts is off again. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government postponed submission of the so-called Entertainment Complex legislation on April 9, a day before lawmakers were due to begin debating the bill. No clarity yet on when the government will submit the bill.

The government says it withdrew the legislation due to uncertainty amid US induced global economic chaos, days after an official suggested entertainment complexes could offset the impact of US higher tariffs.

There’s speculation that public opposition to expanding gambling or political infighting was behind the withdrawal. Sources tell me that government officials realize Thailand must improve its regulatory framework to get leading casino companies to participate.

“I think they have listened to the pros and experts and are making sure the Is are getting dotted and the Ts are getting crossed,” Bangkok based David Leppo of playexpat.com and CheckMate Mitigation says. “They have one shot at getting it right so the major players can actually open up and operate here in Thailand without risking any gaming licenses they currently have in other jurisdictions.”

Leading gaming industry figures and many of Thailand’s top business groups are enthusiastic about creating integrated resorts in the kingdom. But throughout the casino legalization process, it’s been clear Thailand’s government has not done its homework to create a legal structure to support billions in integrated resort investment.

This pause gives Thailand a chance fully realize its potential to create IRs to boost tourism and tax revenue. Thailand’s experience with cannabis legalization remains a sobering precedent.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is Asia editor at large for iGaming Business, a longtime contributor to Forbes, columnist for Asia Times and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about TV news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his biography, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, ex-Twitter @MuhammadCohen and now on Blue Sky @MuhammadCohen.bsky.social.

April 12, 2025
Macau mass conversion still in progress

Casino operators must sell more than gaming in the post-Covid era. (Photo provided by Melco Resorts)

Macau’s gross gaming revenue reached US$28.3 billion last year, 77.5% of the 2019 total. For China-facing casino operators, pivoting from a VIP junket reliant business model to mass market tourism remains a challenge amid tougher restrictions on money movements and decreased visitation from the PRC. Several leading minds in gaming have helpful suggestions.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is Asia editor at large for iGaming Business, a longtime contributor to Forbes, columnist for Asia Times and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about TV news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his biography, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, ex-Twitter @MuhammadCohen and now on Blue Sky @MuhammadCohen.bsky.social.

January 18, 2025
CNN insider pitches softball questions, answers

When I learned my former CNN colleague and teammate Jim Barnett had written Playing Games at CNN about the pioneering news network’s Washington bureau softball team, I looked forward to indulging in that DC ritual of looking for my name in the index. Alas, the book spans the years 1998-2007, beginning three years after I left Washington for Hong Kong.

The book recounts how the CNN CaNiNes brought disparate elements of CNN together and gave us something to share beyond the too often tragic stories we often covered – and the tragic ways we often covered them.

I remember a moment in the newsroom circa 1992 when a news anchor lamented how interest in the network was bound to diminish with the end of the Cold War. “There’s no more Big Story for us,” the anchor sighed. I theatrically unfurled a twenty dollar bill from my wallet. “Financial news is boring,” the anchor clucked dismissively, en route to becoming a major player at CNN and, to this day, in the broader media universe. I was just a writer/third baseman, watching as CNBC came along and ate CNN’s lunch ratings-wise. In 1995, I joined CNBC Asia.

The late 1990s and early 2000s were far more tumultuous times with the internet challenging established media across the board. As Barnett tells it, with the light touch, dogged conviction and impeccable control of a fine newsman, pitcher and team manager, the CaNiNes and their Metropolitan Media Softball League rivals reflected that turmoil and their struggles to cope with those seismic shifts that continue to this day, as well as providing players and fans a brief respite from them.

Washington ritualists take note: Playing Games at CNN has no index.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is Asia editor at large for iGaming Business, a longtime contributor to Forbes, columnist for Asia Times and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about TV news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his biography, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook, ex-Twitter @MuhammadCohen and LinkedIn.

November 30, 2024
Thailand makes unprecedented casino push

Wat Arun Ratchawararam (Temple of Dawn) – Image by Wiroj Sidhisoradej on Freepik

Thailand’s drive to legalize casinos as part of large entertainment complexes strives to duplicate Singapore’s stunning Marina Bay Sands. But Thailand doesn’t seem ready to create the regulatory structure to support Singapore style integrated resorts. Perhaps it really has something different in mind.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is Asia editor at large for iGaming Business, a longtime contributor to Forbes, columnist for Asia Times and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about TV news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his biography, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook, ex-Twitter @MuhammadCohen and LinkedIn.

October 22, 2024
Ubud Writers Festival: freedom, strings attached

The 2024 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali runs October 23-27. “After our 20th anniversary, we are excited to build on last year’s success by offering an even more eclectic program of events and joy, alongside bold visions for the future,” festival founder and director Janet DeNeefe says.

This 21st edition of the festival features my former CNN colleague Maria Ressa providing perspectives on journalism and press freedom in these troubling times of disinformation and rising authoritarianism. Also addressing the topic Paul Caruana Galizia, son of assassinated Maltese investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia, and Drew Ambrose, whose current Al Jazeera series Flattening the Curve examines the uneven global response to Covid-19 and its implications moving forward.

Indonesian national icon for press freedom as well as the arts and letters Goenawan Mohamad will premiere his adaptation of Don Quixote for wayang golek, traditional wooden puppets. Other host country literary stars coming to Ubud this year include Cigarette Girl (Gadis Kretek) author Ratih Kumala, plus Dee Lestari, Ayu Utami and Agustinus Wibowo, each to talk about their latest works. There’s also a tribute to Pramoedya Ananta Toer, imprisoned under Suharto’s New Order regime, featuring the novelist’s 87 year old brother Soesilo Toer.

Goenawan Mohamad

“We take pride in shining a spotlight on this vast yet often overlooked nation’s writers, artists, thinkers, and performers, with the hope that the world will one day recognize their talent, just as we do,” DeNeefe says.

The festival in picturesque Ubud will also host best selling UK historians William Dalrymple, Ben Bland and Sathnam Sanghera, celebrated Indian novelist Amitav Ghost, French-Chinese American writer Aube Rey Lescure and dozens of others, appearing in a relaxed, intimate setting. Plus there’s music, film, poetry and, yes, puppetry at one of the world’s top literary events, well worth a trip from anywhere.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is Asia editor at large for iGaming Business, a longtime contributor to Forbes, columnist for Asia Times and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about TV news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his biography, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook, ex-Twitter @MuhammadCohen and LinkedIn.

October 15, 2024