Online Gambling and Gaming Closed in Thailand

May 31, 2009

Thailand�s Criminal Court has ordered 72 online gambling and gaming sites closed after a 12 year old boy killed himself due to a gaming addiction. His parents had discovered the addiction and had banned their child from participating in any of the online gambling or gaming sites, and in response the child jumped from the sixth floor balcony of his school, killing himself.

The Court told the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology that the online gambling and gaming sites were to be closed down because they were encouraging and enticing players to play, thus ensuring that they would lose money or get hooked on the games. The Department of Special Investigation said that their internet service providers that were caught allowing online gambling to have access would face both fines and jail time for doing so � and would lose their licenses.

The police say that they checked the boy�s phone where he had sent numerous messages to friends threatening to kill himself if he was not able to play. Police said that the parents should not have told him he could not play, and instead should have limited the amount of time that he had access to online gambling and gaming. They say that children who develop these addictions are more likely to kill themselves when denied access. They say that parents should use �positive communications� when dealing with them.

This is not the first time that the Thailand government has considered the ban on online gambling and gaming, as they say that it is a dangerous way for both children and adults to entertain themselves.



 

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