The Royal Turf Club is raising a 200-billion-baht fund to open an entertainment complex that will include a casino on a vast land plot in Bangkok.
According to local media reports, Pathawee Surin, a director of the club, said the organisation together with foreign partners would develop “The Royal Siam Haven” on a 1,200-rai plot. Construction should start next year and would take seven years to complete.
The project will comprise a horse racetrack, a clubhouse, a golf course, yacht club, sports complex, a six-star hotel, luxury restaurants, a wellness hospital, a learning centre and a casino.
The club did not reveal the exact location of the site.
The Pheu Thai-led government has been aggressively pursuing plans to legalise casino gambling, but only within approved entertainment complexes. A draft bill is now undergoing scrutiny but even some parties in the coalition — notably second-ranked Bhumjaithai — oppose the idea in its current form.
The creation of a new entertainment complex would allow the Royal Turf Club to revive its horse racing business. Founded in 1916 by local aristocrats, the club operated the Nang Loeng Racecourse in Dusit district of Bangkok until it closed in 2018. The land owned by the Crown Property Bureau was turned into a public park.
Mr Pathawee was quoted as saying that the Royal Turf Club would carry out its project with Royal Sport Complex, and that they were lining up four more partners from China, South Korea and the United States.
A potential partner from South Korea is in the horse racing business. The club has already obtained a new racecourse licence from the Interior Ministry, he was quoted as saying.
The Ministry of Finance is expected to propose an entertainment complex and casino bill to the cabinet late this year.
A House committee that studied the entertainment complex policy found that Thais would form a majority of visitors to legalised casinos.
Local media reports have said that a number of big international names are studying the possibility of entering the Thai market if legalised gambling goes ahead. They include Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, MGM China and Hard Rock Café.
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