Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAR 2022年3月 亞博匯 30 COVER STORY attend those locations don’t want to do a whole heap of gambling. The people that want to spend six hours on the beach are not the same people that want to spend six hours in a casino like in Macau. “So we need to know what the government would want to achieve before we start considering where it makes sense to [put legalized casinos], because where it makes sense to have one is based on what it is you’re trying to achieve.” Umansky is also highly dubious of aligning the desires of Thai authorities with those of operators, particularly if banning locals were to become part of the agenda. “Foreigner-only doesn’t work,” he says, pointing to the troubles COVID has created for Korea’s foreigner-only casino industry. “I mean sure, you can do a US$200 million property in Phuket and that will make a lot of money, but that’s not what the government is going to allow. They’re going to want you to build a US$5 billion property catering only to foreigners and with an absurd tax rate – and none of it will ever pan out.” Others aren’t so sure. According to sources who spoke to IAG on condition of anonymity, Thailand is more likely to follow the lead of Singapore and Japan by introducing an entry fee in the realm of THB500 TO THB1,000 baht (US$15 to US$30) in an effort to exclude those who can’t afford to gamble. “The market could be quite big,” one source said. “Thailand had 13 million Chinese visitors in 2019 and that was on an upward trajectory. Chinese IR放在曼谷。如果這不是目標，就把它 放在布吉島或芭堤雅，但那些海濱賭場 度假村很少能發揮作用，因為去到那裏 的人並不想一直賭博，想在那裏度過 6小時的人與想在澳門賭場裏花6個小時 的人是不一樣的。」 「因此，在我們開始考慮（合法賭 場）安置在哪裏之前，需要先清楚政府 想要實現甚麼，因為在哪裏開賭場是基 於想實現的目標是甚麼。」 Umansky同時也十分懷疑，如果禁 止當地人入內的話，泰國當局的願望是 否與營運商一致。 「僅限外國人入內是不行的。」 他指出，新冠疫情之下，給韓國賭場僅 限外國人入內，為業界帶來了很大的困 難。 「我的意思是，你可以在布吉島投 資2億美元打造一個物業，可以賺到很 多錢，但這不是政府想要的。政府會希 望你打造一個價值50億美元的物業，只 為外國人服務，並且稅率（高企到）荒 謬——但這一切都不會有結果。」 其他人士則表示不太確定。有不願 具名的消息人士向《亞博匯》透露，泰 國更有可能效仿新加坡和日本的做法，引 入500至1000泰銖（15至30美元）的入 場費，以將那些無力賭博的人拒之門外。 「這個市場可能相當大。」該名消 息人士稱：「泰國在2019年接待了約 1300萬名中國遊客，而且呈上升趨勢。 中國人喜歡來泰國，所以這是龐大的市 場。同時也有很多泰國人會去新加坡、 澳門、歐洲、美國和澳洲賭博。所以那 裏亦肯定有市場，再外加巨大的中國市 場作補充。」 根據上述可行性研究，若合法賭場 向所有人開放，預計將吸引55/45的國 際遊客與當地人。