Bloomberry denies claims that a casino is going to be built in Thailand.
Bloomberry Resorts Corporation has denied rumours that it could build and open a new land-based casino in Thailand, even though the country is getting closer to making gambling legal.
Bangkok Bloomberry: This week, rumours spread that Enrique "Ricky" Razon, the Filipino billionaire and chair of Bloomberry, might be interested in expanding into Thailand. Based on a story on Bilyonaryo.com, Razon wants to open a resort casino in Thailand.
Now Bloomberry has responded by sending a notice to the Philippine Stock Exchange denying the claims. But Bloomberry said that the idea of legal gaming in Thailand is "market interest."
Bloomberry said, "The article is mostly a guess that Bloomberry 'is expected' to join 'global gaming leaders who have shown interest in establishing a resort casino in Thailand.'"
A gaming rule is said to be being thought about in Thailand, but we don't know what form it will take. The market is interested in it. It's just a guess on the part of the writer that Bloomberry confirms that it has "plans to expand in Thailand." There's no such plan.
At the moment, Bloomberry is focussing on running casinos in South Korea and the Philippines. The group runs one integrated resort in each country. Last week, a second resort in the Philippines opened.
Casino moguls are looking at Thailand
Bloomberry doesn't seem to have any plans to start in Thailand right now, but other leaders have said they are interested.
Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings said during the company's Q1 earnings call that the company is looking into ways to open casinos in Thailand and New York.
Billings says that the process of launching in Thailand is still in its "very early days" and that full information on rules and licensing structures have not yet been released. He did say, though, that Wynn is very interested in making the move.
Billings said, "Thailand is already a major tourist destination with a lot of infrastructure for tourism and a culture of world-class service." "We will continue to keep a close eye on how the legalisation process moves forward."
Las Vegas Sands is another company that has shown interest. Robert Goldstein, CEO and head of the operator, said last month that the company "absolutely" has an interest in Thailand.
He said, "It's a very, very exciting market in many ways." "Just the sheer number of people who live there, how easy it is to get to, and how willing people are to travel to Thailand." I think it's clear that this is the best place in Asia for a vacation resort.
"It might happen faster than Japan." I believe it's possible. Even though it's early, we still need to work on the numbers and getting a sense of what's going on.
Bangkok has more gambling goals than Japan.
Not only Goldstein has seen similarities between Thailand and Japan in terms of legalising gambling, but other people have too.
This month, Muhammad Cohen wrote a special two-part story about what was happening in Thailand. This includes a look at how Thailand is now further along than Japan in legalising casinos and gambling, but it still has a long way to go.
In the second part of the series, we look at how the legalisation of casinos in Thailand may go against what most people think, but it could be very good for big companies who want to grow.
