Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society is advancing a new Promotion of the Game Industry Act, which, among other measures, aims to create a mechanism for identifying social and video games that contain hidden gambling elements.
According to The Nation, the bill is still in the drafting stage but has already been approved by the Revolving Fund Committee of the Comptroller General’s Department and has received budgetary support from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). The document is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration in the near future.
The proposed law will establish a centralized regulatory framework for Thailand’s gaming industry. This will allow authorities to identify and take action against games that use randomized reward mechanisms (loot boxes), prize draws, or point-accumulation systems that can be exchanged for real rewards.
At present, Thailand has no agency with the authority to monitor or block such games. The Act will also grant the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau the power to audit operators and suspend unregistered gaming platforms.
The adoption of the Act is intended to ensure a fair and sustainable gaming industry rather than to restrict competition.
This initiative follows the collapse of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s government, which effectively halted any short-term prospects for legalizing casino gaming in Thailand within large-scale integrated resorts.
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