Vietnam media reports that the country’s new gambling law might not lift a ban on locals in entering casinos after all.

In June, the Lottery and Gambling Division of the Ministry of Finance submitted a draft of Vietnam’s revised gambling law, that many expected would allow Vietnamese citizens to gamble in at least one of the country’s casinos on a trial basis.

Currently, only non-citizens and citizens with foreign passports are allowed into any of the more than 30 slot clubs and casinos for any purpose other than employment.

But state-run Thanh Nien News reported on Monday that a subsequent draft had reversed course, maintaining the restriction that limits casino access to foreign tourists and Vietnamese holding foreign passports.

English-language media outlet VnExpress reported opponents of the casino ban as saying the government’s refusal to life the ban only sends scores of Vietnamese across the border into Cambodia, Macau or Hong Kong to gamble.

– with other agencies