Thailand’s Kla Party Pushes for Gambling Reform

In a bid to boost Thailand’s struggling economy, four core strategies have been outlined by the Kla party. One of them is to legalize gambling in the Kingdom.

Last weekend a general party meeting was held at the Centara Government Complex Hotel in Bangkok to assess the party’s performance since it was established two years ago.

Kla leader Korn Chatikavanij made an announcement about four cornerstone strategies that will help revive the Thai economy going into the future. He believes that despite the shady reputation of the gambling industry, reforming the industry and legalizing gambling in Thailand could create a new revenue stream for the country.

“No one wants to promote gambling. But, in reality, we must accept that grey area businesses benefit those who violate laws and the influential individuals with links to gangsters and organized crime. So, it’s time to change that,” announced Mr. Korn at the meeting.

Online Casinos Booming while the Economy Struggles

Currently, in Thailand, the black market online gambling industry is huge, bringing in untold millions for the owners of the online casinos operating illegally here.

“Hundreds if not thousands of websites promote these illegal activities with zero oversight from the government, many of them fraudulent, scamming innocent people out of their hard-earned money,” said another party member at the event.

“Through legalizing and taxing the industry, the Government could create a huge income stream for the country, almost overnight.”

It’s not only Thailand-based gambling sites that are booming in the current struggling economy. Global online gambling casinos such as Stake report a huge number of users from within the Kingdom, despite the practice being illegal here.

Apart from making gambling legal, the party plan to promote three other strategies also designed to help bring the country out of recession. Mr. Korn went into detail about their new “Green Deal” industry model, which they believe will boost local industry and help revive the economy.

A New Strategy to Revive Thailand

The Green Deal revolves around the energy and automotive industries, with plans to improve the country’s transport infrastructure also involved. The Kla party also plans to support and promote blockchain technology alongside the digital and creative economies.

Mr. Korn spoke about completely digitalizing the working processes of all government agencies so that all tasks could be done remotely using mobile technology if necessary. He also announced the appointment of the party’s new chief strategist. Kobsak Sapavasu, former deputy leader of the Democrats, was awarded the role.

The party also appointed a new municipality mayor, a former Democrat Party member, to the Kla’s economic team – Captain Deuntemduang.

The Kla currently has around 25 thousand members throughout Thailand and has established 89 offices in various provinces.