Rampant Gambling Among Thai Students Raises Alarm

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Special Report:

Rampant Student Gambling Raises Alarm

The excitement and fanfare that comes along with The World Cup is experienced by all members of society.

But with this excitement, comes a growing and addictive trend of gambling that is rampant within student communities.

Our reporter, Dusita Chumsri investigates how this seemingly ‘fun’ and ‘harmless’ activity can have dire consequences.

While it is no surprise that World Cup 2010 is providing Thai’s with an entertaining distraction after months of political turmoil, the darker side of the game has become a relentless force.

This force has lured societies most vulnerable, young students. For those whose faith lies with Paul the Psychic Octopus, the force may not be so negative. But for the people who have doubted Paul’s psychic ability, consequences of being trapped with accumulating gambling debts is common.

Over the past month, the government has endeavored to curb the gambling situation.

The problem is, their efforts seem futile as gambling represents one of the hardest activities for authorities to deal with. Seeping through all facets of society, the act of gambling has become commonplace.

Placing bets on the endless number of football matches is relatively simple for students. Starting off as something fun and harmless, lures youths in and before they know it, most gamblers find themselves being sucked in quicksand.

Perhaps this can highlight the problems with societal morals and values.

Even more disturbing is the fact that girls are being forced into prostitution as a result their boyfriends gambling addiction.

As it stands, 1 in every 3 students participates in the World Cup underground gamble scene. The all too familiar stories of adults shutting down their businesses and filing for bankruptcy seem to take a backseat to the cases that have occurred in the past month.

Youth suicide, heightened crime and student prostitution have now emerged as a result of an addictive trend that is growing under the shadow of football.

Especially, with the historic finale match on the way between The Netherlands and Spain, gamblers should be aware of the unpredictable outcome.

It seems that the issue of gambling goes much deeper than just arresting bookers, fines and shutting down websites. Perhaps, World Cup 2010 will bring to light the deep-rooted problems within society and the need for authorities to address them with urgency.

-- Tan Network 2010-07-13

[Thai at Heart]

Why are the social interest stories getting such strong billing, when contained in the clippings of the day, there are far more interesting stories to debate?

We have teen pregnancy, short skirts and now teen gambling, but hiding in the "locked" clippings of the day are many good stories but they are not thrown open for debate.

[bkkjames]

You mean all the red v yellow crap Thai at Heart? 

Everyone is sick of it.

[Thai at Heart]

You mean all the red v yellow crap Thai at Heart? 

Everyone is sick of it.

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[RedNIvar]

The higher up the social standing the worse is the gambling problem. So many times I've seen on golf courses where the local elderly Thai gentlemen golf for 50K to 100K baht a hole. Nothing is done to curb gambling here. The focus is on the lower income group and teens. The youth imitate what they see their elders doing. This is of the problems that no one is really seriously interested in solving. Gambling kick backs have to go somewhere.

[Javabear]

What is the big aversion to gambling in Thailand?  If it were legalized and done in casinos perhaps that would help.

[apetley]

What is the big aversion to gambling in Thailand?  If it were legalized and done in casinos perhaps that would help.

The problem with that idea is that only the government and a few wealthy individuals would benefit.

Underground gambling supports thousands nationwide and what would the police do without their pudgy little digits in the pie?

[kuffki]

That must be the reason for poor education, all students are too bust gambling or having babies or wearing short skirts

[TheBarbarian]

Why should it raise alarm? The Bangrak police was able to threaten academics investigating their role in gambling dens. It seems to me that the parents are to blame they set great examples for their children. Greed is number one in the circles of the rich and powerful. They are to blame. Lock up the police generals and army generals benefitting from it. not a few punters.

[surangw]

they should know gambling is wrong, they should waste their money on the thai lottery