SOCIAL LEGITIMACY OF CASINOS: A STUDY OF POLICY DEBATES IN THAILAND

Abstract

This academic article examined the social legitimacy of casinos, with a focus on the policy debates in Thailand. The objectives were to investigate the processes through which social legitimacy for casinos was constructed within the Thai social context, to analyze policy discourses and the political, economic, and ethical rationales used to support or oppose casinos, and to propose new knowledge that links public policy design with cultural and ethical acceptance in Thai society. The study was found that the process of legitimizing or rejecting casinos is not confined to economic or legal reasoning, but is closely tied to values, ethics, culture, and social power structures. Policy discourses of legitimacy are not power-neutral; rather, they are often shaped by the narratives of the state, capital, and the media such as emphasizing economic benefits or crime control. Conversely, opponents of casinos employed moral discourses grounded in Buddhist principles to construct value-based legitimacy. Both sides thus exercised power through discourse in defining what society ought to accept or reject, leading to broader social conflicts. The new body of knowledge emerging from this study connected public policy design with cultural and ethical acceptance in Thai society, highlighting the following dimensions: economic prudence, cultural consciousness, social legitimacy, collaborative engagement, adherence to public values, and the shared goal of creating a just society.