Airports in Vietnam are about to get a whole lot less boring after the government offered its support to a plan authorizing the installation of slot machines.
On Friday, the office of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung announced that he had given his approval in principle for the plan, which would allow international visitors and holders of foreign passports to engage in a little slots action while waiting for their boarding call at the country’s 11 international airports.
The proposal to put slots in airports originated with the Airports Corporation of Vietnam. The Ministry of Finance has been assigned the job of soliciting opinions from various government figures and departments, before crafting a draft decree for the central government to consider and (hopefully) give its final stamp of approval.
Local companies will be responsible for installing and maintaining the machines, which will be located in specially designated areas of the airports accessible only by travelers headed out of the country or by international tourists in transit to other Vietnamese cities.
By law, Vietnamese citizens aren’t allowed to enter the country’s eight small casinos and 43 slots parlors (although plans are afoot that could change that). Some local media reports suggested that Vietnamese citizens traveling outside the country would be able to access the machines, while other reports insist that the existing ban wouldn’t be affected by the new airport scheme.
Slots have become an increasingly common sight at airports around the globe. Just last week, the Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee approved legislation that would authorize slots at the state’s six international airports.
