3-year planwill tackle betting, vice

Activists say the state must control gambling

ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA

A three-year strategic plan is being drawn up to tackle gambling, Deputy Social Development and Human Security Minister Poldej Pinprateep said yesterday.

It will be based on information collected from five pilot provinces _ Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chantaburi, Nan and Phatthalung.

The plan, which is to be completed in June before being sent to the cabinet for approval, would promote living security by empowering communities to tackle gambling and other vice, and provide policy recommendations to the government.

"Over the past three months, we have obtained a lot of information such as who the gamblers are, and the types of gambling that are popular with local people," Mr Poldej said at a round-table meeting on the issue yesterday.

Besides the anti-gambling campaign and community empowering programmes, he said, the government may need to review related policies such as the state lottery, particularly the issue of the legal age for buying tickets.

The ministry organised a round-table discussion yesterday to address the importance of the issue.

Health activist Prakit Vatheesathokkij said gambling had become a part of some people's life, and unless the state came up with effective controls it could lead to many serious crimes.

He cited a study by Chulalongkorn University in 2001, which showed a record total of 83 million bets involving 15 popular types of gambling.

Information from the National Statistics Office also showed that of the 62.3 million population, 23.7 million people bought underground lottery tickets, while 21.2 million played government lotteries. Other forms of gambling involved the government savings lottery, gambling dens, football and traditional sports gambling.

The survey also found that two million children were involved with gambling, due to the changing environment and family conditions.

Supalak Tiyao, 48, a reformed gambler from Ban Suan Pang in Nakhon Pathom province, said gambling had ruined his life until he quit about five years ago.

Mr Supalak was once a cattle raiser, and accumulated debts from gambling.

He left the farm to become a taxi driver, earning 500 to 1,000 baht a day, but it was still not enough. There were times when he spent all his earnings on gambling.

Mr Supalak said he tried almost every kind of gambling, including high-low, cards, underground lotteries and gambling in dens.

"I spent over a million baht on gambling over five years. I had to pay around 40,000 baht a month on loan interest.

"I was so desperate I wanted to kill myself," he said.

Eventually, he realised it was time to give up for his wife and children.

"After giving up gambling, I came to realise how sad and distressed my wife was. She had never told me before," he said.

He still had a 300,000 baht debt which he expected to pay off in a few years, given that he would not gamble anymore.

Assoc Prof Sangsit Piriyarangsan, director of the Dhammaphiban Research Centre at Chandrakasem Rajabhat University, said the problem of gambling was difficult to tackle because it normally involved politics.

Local politicians were involved with underground lotteries, he said, adding that it was national politicians who would benefit if they were legalised.

Bangkok Post
Tuesday April 03, 2007