Laos to mimic POGO model with new offshore licences
Laos is set to regulate online gambling, setting up a regime where operators licensed in the country targeting markets elsewhere in Southeast Asia such as Thailand.
In a model similar to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), operators that receive a licence may set up an online gambling operation, but may not accept customers who are based in Laos.
Danny Too, a consultant assisting the Laotian government on the process, told iGB that the government is currently in the process of drawing up its regulations for the sector.
He said that the government had planned to publish guidelines to apply for licences in two months’ time.
According to Too, initial master licences are set to be issued to a small number of businesses, which can then contract out “sub-licences” to a wider number of businesses, similar to the model in Curaçao.
Too noted that this was due in part to the effects of Covid-19, which was devastating to Laos’ foreigner-only land-based casinos.
“During the pandemi..
