In June, former Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered the drafting of a bill to legalize entertainment complexes in the country, a move that could boost tourism spending, increase employment, and revive the economy again. Apart from state lottery or licensed horse betting, gambling is currently illegal in Thailand.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra is now Thailand’s new prime minister, but analysts all agree that the bill will still likely be passed. If that likely outcome becomes a reality, Thailand’s casinos could generate 187 billion Thai baht ($5.5 billion) in revenues, or 1% of the country’s GDP, according to Maybank research. The country could be Macao and Singapore’s largest competitor by the end of the decade. “The Thai government has seen the positive impact on the economy by opening up gambling/casinos as in the case for Singapore, and the power of the gaming dollar in Macau. This move could boost Thailand’s attraction as a tourist destination,” said Tim Tsang, CEO of Companies.Asia, a business consultancy for Corporate Asia.

KTP GLOBAL CONSULTING
KTP Global, a consultancy with emerging dominance in Asia, sees the legalization of gambling in Thailand, and the associated development of the hotel and entertainment industry will offer almost unlimited opportunities for profits and growth that would last at least until the end of this and next decade.

For more information on how we can help, please contact us: consulting@ktpglobal.ca

PricewaterhouseCoopers, trading as PwC, is headquartered in London. It is the world’s second largest professional services firm measured by 2013 revenues.  PwC has offices in 776 cities across 159 countries and employs over 180,000 people. It had total revenues of US$31.5 billion in its 2012 fiscal year, of which $14.9 billion was generated by its Assurance practice, $7.9 billion by its Tax practice and $8.7 billion by its Advisory practice. The firm was formed in 1998 by a merger between Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse. The trading name was shortened to PwC in September 2010 as part of its major rebranding strategy.

Ernst & Young (known as EY), also headquartered in London, operates as a network of member firms which are separate legal entities in individual countries. It has 175,000 employees and more than 700 offices in over 150 countries. EY is ranked third of the Big Four, based on its 2013 revenues of US$25.8 billion. It provides assurance, financial audit, tax, consulting and advisory services to companies.

KPMG, the result of merger of Peat Marwick International and Klynveld Main Goerdeler in 1987, has its global headquarters in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. KPMG employs 152,000 people and has three lines of services: audit, tax, and advisory. Its advisory services are further divided into three service groups – Management Consulting, Risk Consulting, and Transactions & Restructuring.   Its 2013 global revenues are US$23.4 billion.

THE HONG KONG SCENARIO
The Big Four in the world are still ranked top 4 locally in Hong Kong, at least in terms of staff strength. For the year 2013, PwC reduced its number of staff by 100 while Deloitte increased its staff by 200 to tie for the top spot at 2400 each. The momentum seems to be with PwC though, as it finished the year with a proposed merger with management consulting firm Booz & Co. to complement PwC’s advisory business. According to respective spokespersons, this merger will bring 275 Booz partners and more than 3000 professionals to the PwC network in 33 countries.

Ernst & Young is third in Hong Kong with 2100 professionals, up from 2000 in the previous year.

KPMG increased its recruitment effort to arrive at 2000 staff, up from 1700 the previous year, to place 4th in terms of staff size in Hong Kong.

BDO is still ranked fifth with 1000 employees, unchanged from the previous year.

Currently, the managing partners for PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG in Hong Kong are respectively Cassie Wong, Joseph Lo, Agnes Chan and Andrew Weir.

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