Thai Gambling Sites Shut Down Following Suicide

In what can only be described as a 'knee-jerk' reaction, the Criminal Court in Thailand has ordered the closure of 72 online gambling websites following the suicide of a 12-year-old boy, who leapt to his death from his 6th-floor apartment because his father banned him from playing online games.

Prosecutors in the Thai Criminal Court claimed that people were becoming addicted to online games which posed a risk to their health, citing the example of the young boy who committed suicide. As a result, Thailand's Department of Special Investigations said the Court ordered the sites to be shut down.

While it is not thought that the boy did not partake in online gambling, many of the websites he reportedly had access to encouraged people to make real money bets over the internet. However, the ruling has had a backlash from online gambling supporters, who feel the decision conflicts with the nation's laws.

Following the Court ruling, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across Thailand were reportedly notified by government authorities to shut down the 72 online gambling-related websites. In addition, the ISPs themselves could face criminal prosecution if they are found to have offered online gambling services.

Director of the Rajanagarindra Child and Adolescent Mental Health Institute in Thailand and gaming addiction expert Bundit Sornpaisarn suggested that children who had developed gaming habits and who exhibited aggressive tendencies were at a far higher risk of committing suicide than other children.

However, Sornpaisarn went on to claim that a better solution to banning access to online gambling-related websites at ISP level is for Thai parents to recognize the early symptoms of gaming addition in their children, and intervene and discipline them into playing fewer games or stop them from playing at all.

The Criminal Court action means that even consenting adults in Thailand will now be prevented from accessing online gambling-related sites, which is reminiscent of the current U.S. online gambling ban. Unlike in the UK, in many countries around the world online gambling is illegal or at least highly restricted.