Govt urged to roll the dice

A great chance for Thailand to steal an advantage in lucrative sector for region, writes Jitsiree Thongnoi

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Gaming expert Bo Bernhard remembered a conversation he had with the Singapore Tourism Board in the early 2000s.

“Singapore is a beautiful, tropical country,” said one board executive. “There’s a great business community and a great banking industry, but we are a little bit boring.”

Sitting on the 28th floor of an uber luxurious hotel in Bangkok in mid-May, Mr Bernhard told the Bangkok Post that Thailand is facing a similar conundrum. The kingdom is already an attractive tourist destination, but it must act to avoid the industry stagnating.

In the past in Singapore, a businessman might have gone from the airport to a conference and then left as soon as he could afterwards, he said.

Today, however, he can bring along his family and make a weekend of it thanks to integrated resorts like the Marina Bay Sands Casino and the World Sentosa Casino.

These have a multiplier effect which encourages visitors to extend their stay and have helped turn Singapore into a regional hub not just for gaming but also family-oriented tourism.

Mr Bernhard said he believed Bangkok, if it follows Singapore's example and invests in an entertainment complex, or even two, could even surpass it in terms of tourism outcomes.

"Bangkok has a critical mass of infrastructure. It has a world class airport. Bangkok alone, with two resorts, can surpass Singapore and become one of the largest gaming destinations in Asia," he said.