Former constitution drafters, doctors and economic lecturers have voiced strong opposition to the government’s casino bill, saying it will ruin the country and its people.
Fifty former drafters of the 2007 constitution led by Prof Jarun Pakdeethanakul revealed an open letter to the parliament president and members of the parliament on Sunday.
In the letter, they said that the parliament should reject the government’s entertainment complex bill that was put on the parliament’s agenda on Wednesday.
They said that the bill – which includes the legalisation of casinos – was not a campaign policy of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and its coalition partners, but reflected the vision of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
According to the group, the bill contradicts national development based on the sufficiency economy which is part of the national strategies and a royal command.
State property
The bill affects the properties of the state, the group said, because state-owned land will be turned into entertainment complexes. It is tantamount to handing over state land for the private sector to develop for its own benefit which is against the principles of state property development.
The bill cannot solve the economic problems of the nation and the public, the group claimed, but will favour foreign groups of casino developers at the cost of the nation which will suffer crime and social problems at all levels.
Twenty-seven doctors who graduated from Chiang Mai University in Class 15 also opposed the entertainment complex bill, saying that Thailand had valuable natural resources and cultures, and casinos would pose long-term problems for new generations.
Tuesday demonstration
Wirangrong Dabbaransi, head of the Network of Universities for Reform, invited opponents of the entertainment complex bill to gather at Chulalongkorn University on Tuesday to voice their opposition to the bill.
A group of economics lecturers at Thammasat University said on Sunday that casinos were actually the highlights of planned entertainment complexes and would cause widespread and long-term social problems, while their contribution to economic development would be short-lived.
Gambling would lead to crime and cause problems for families and children and ruin their future, the group said.
According to the group, entertainment complexes and casinos would allow criminals to launder their money conveniently.
If the government continues to push for the bill, it would not deserve to stay in power, the group said.
