Thai youth group expresses concern over online gambling bill
Thirty representatives from a Thai youth network against gambling have submitted a petition to the Prime Minister of Thailand asking them to reconsider the legalization of online gambling, according to the Bangkok Post.
Wasinee Sonsab, the coordinator of the youth network that sent the petition, said the group was against amending the Gambling Act 1935. The amendment will legalize online gambling, which the group says could result in a surge of new young gamblers.
Quoting data from the Center for Gambling Studies, which found that 32.3% of Thai people aged between 15 and 25 gambled online in 2023, Sonsab said, “Currently, Thai youths can access gambling in large numbers.”
She continued to stress that there’s a danger that one in four, or around 739,000 youths, could become addicted to gambling and that the government’s amended policy was “akin to using young people’s future as a bargaining chip.”
In a letter alongside the petition, Sonsab said, “This is a [statistic] that has not been protected by the government at all. The network would like to express its disagreement with the policy as the government’s attempt to generate more income through online gambling is a greedy and shameful idea. This obviously demonstrates the desire to solely pursue short-term profits, with detrimental social effects that will follow in the long run.”
The Youth Network for Risk Reduction leader at Ramkhamhaeng University also expressed concern about the online gambling amendment, backing up Sonsab’s points.
He stressed that youth who grow addicted to gambling find it hard to break away from the addictive cycle and resort to bad habits, such as lying and stealing, to fund it.
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