KUALA LUMPUR (April 1): Genting Malaysia Bhd’s Resorts World Genting is set to be the least impacted by the opening of legal Thailand casinos, as less than 20% of its gross gaming revenue (GGR) is derived from foreigners.

In a note on the gaming sector, Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) said Thailand’s first economic corridors hosting legal casino gaming could open as early as 2029, with up to eight potential integrated casino resorts to be developed should a study passed last Thursday by the House of Representatives be given final approval by the cabinet.

The research house said the most likely location for legal Thai casinos is the Eastern Economic Corridor, with a development period of around five years, assuming one or more integrated resort bids were to be approved within this year.

Maybank IB said the opening of legal Thai casinos would have a significant impact on the regional gaming landscape, with Singapore’s integrated resorts and Cambodia’s NagaWorld to be the most impacted.

“We are more concerned for Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), where we estimate that around 60% of GGR is derived from foreigners, and NagaCorp’s Naga 1 and 2, where almost all their GGR is derived from foreigners (only Cambodians who hold foreign passports can gamble in Cambodia).

“Yet, recall that many who had believed that Malaysian GGR would fall after the Singaporean integrated resorts opened in 2010 were proven wrong,” said the research house.

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