Citing "the encouragement of addictive gaming," the government of Thailand recently shut down approximately 72 websites "offering access to online gambling and games." The decision was made shortly after the tragic suicide of 12-year-old Pongsathorn Wattanabenjasopha, allegedly caused by his father banning him from playing PC games.
While a variety of studies have simultaneously "proven" and "disproven" the addictive properties of video games, Bundit Sornpaisarn, director of the Rajanagarindra Child and Adolescent Mental Health Institute, told the Bangkok Post, "The boy's suicide reflected that children who were addicted to games and had an aggressive mentality were more likely to commit suicide than others." While we're not sure of the correlation with video games in Mr. Sornpaisarn's statement or why shutting down gaming/gambling websites in Thailand is the response to a child's suicide, we extend our condolences to everyone affected by the events.
[Via GamePolitics]
Reader Comments (62)
Posted: May 25th 2009 12:12AM EngadgetSoFunny said
I find the governments response surprising too. Banning gambling sites sounds alright to me though. Gambling can be addictive, expensive and I've personally seen it ruin people's lives. Banning non-gambling gaming sites seems excessive.
I've got a feeling this boy used his gaming as an escape from real life situations that were probably quite dreaful and painful. When his escape was shut off, is probably when the boy commited suicide. In real life, I wouldn't be surprised if he was being bullied, living in relative poverty, pressured by school, etc.
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I've got a feeling this boy used his gaming as an escape from real life situations that were probably quite dreaful and painful. When his escape was shut off, is probably when the boy commited suicide. In real life, I wouldn't be surprised if he was being bullied, living in relative poverty, pressured by school, etc.
Posted: May 25th 2009 3:41AM Xocolatl said
Thai people bet on everything, and we do it from very young age. We bet on chicken fights, dog fights, and even fish fight. Hell, betting is so prolific that it's seen everywhere (traditionally) from weddings to funerals.
I don't know the detail myself, but if they only shut down gambling sites, then I'm not worried about it.
I really hate when they are ignoring the real root of the problem though. That government really need to man up and tell the parents to take care of their kids--a rarity in a developing country.
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I don't know the detail myself, but if they only shut down gambling sites, then I'm not worried about it.
I really hate when they are ignoring the real root of the problem though. That government really need to man up and tell the parents to take care of their kids--a rarity in a developing country.
Posted: May 24th 2009 11:43PM Raito said
I lived in Thailand for 8 years, and was born there. They like to find excuses to shut down a lot of things that can cause people to disobey the government. Is funny because Thailand's government claims to be a democracy, but is clearly not. They already banned all sales of GTA.
I live in the USA as of right now, and I got to say, I only go back to see family. Is a pretty oppressive place.
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I live in the USA as of right now, and I got to say, I only go back to see family. Is a pretty oppressive place.
Posted: May 25th 2009 12:00AM (Unverified) said
I've visited Thailand, and I thought the same thing. In my short time there they had the bloodless coup getting rid of Thaksin, and they censured everything that was critical of the military.
Back to this story however, sad that the kid committed suicide over this but he might have had other, undiagnosed problems like depression for example.
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Back to this story however, sad that the kid committed suicide over this but he might have had other, undiagnosed problems like depression for example.
Posted: May 25th 2009 9:44AM Chief Oddball said
I agree, Kevin. Although I met my wife in Australia, she was born in Thailand too, so we spend a lot of time there; in fact we just recently got back to the U.S. after a 6-month stay. Those past six months were enough to make my wife say it would be a long time before she went back. It's a lot more chaotic there now than it was when I first visited in 1999.
The revolving door of Thai governments of late have been so ineffective at anything that part of me wonders if they do things like this just to have the appearance of competence and authority, in at least some matter.
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The revolving door of Thai governments of late have been so ineffective at anything that part of me wonders if they do things like this just to have the appearance of competence and authority, in at least some matter.
Posted: May 25th 2009 12:06AM (Unverified) said
I don't think the kid would have killed himself over something as small as a game. I think that the home environment was really oppressive (thus causing the game "addiction" due to the need to immerse himself so deeply < really not a pun, ewww) or he may have been mentally unstable... or both. This should help people to wake up and start treating their kids better and try to help their kids if they are in need of it. I hope that more cases don't end up happening, then we'll all know that something BIG is wrong, despite the fact that kids can't receive education nearly as good as there was in the first half of the decade. Education sucks like hell nowadays! Sorry about the tangent.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 5:58AM Haggard said
Yeah. I've had my PC and internet taken away from me as punishment before and there's plenty you can do to fill the time, even if you're addicted to an MMO. I think that him not being allowed to play games was just the tip of the iceberg of his parents' lack of understanding.
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Posted: May 24th 2009 11:49PM (Unverified) said
Sadly, we will see this on news channels like FOX, claiming that this ultimate proof that games are bad.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 12:05AM (Unverified) said
"Fox is the ultimate proof humans are bad"
If I could pick a statement that should be universally accepted across the world as being true, it's this.
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If I could pick a statement that should be universally accepted across the world as being true, it's this.
Posted: May 25th 2009 12:13AM TheDarkWayne said
I dont mean to say that all republicans are evil are anything, just the ones on Fox are
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Posted: May 25th 2009 12:19AM (Unverified) said
FOX is more like proof that most people on the channel are idiots.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 12:44AM original fred said
FOX NEWS ATE MY BABY
Bill O'Reilly makes me want to punch things reilly hard.
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Bill O'Reilly makes me want to punch things reilly hard.
Posted: May 25th 2009 2:09AM (Unverified) said
I don't agree with any type of censorship on video games, and am a regular FOX viewer.
If you want to look at polarizing, stupid, radical news go no further than MSNBC.
All news sans-Fox tilts left, but MSNBC is ALLLL the way left. FOX tilts right, but really if the media wouldn't have been such dicks in the 70-90's shunning all conservative thought there wouldn't even be a FOX News. Fox News only provides an outlet for conservatives that otherwise would be forced to watch people like Keith Olbermann.
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If you want to look at polarizing, stupid, radical news go no further than MSNBC.
All news sans-Fox tilts left, but MSNBC is ALLLL the way left. FOX tilts right, but really if the media wouldn't have been such dicks in the 70-90's shunning all conservative thought there wouldn't even be a FOX News. Fox News only provides an outlet for conservatives that otherwise would be forced to watch people like Keith Olbermann.
Posted: May 25th 2009 2:37AM (Unverified) said
You should feel blessed you have the option to not watch the channel. Instead of censoring it.
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Posted: May 24th 2009 11:49PM nickux said
I really hope the comments on this topic remain tasteful. While the government's actions completely miss the point, it's still a very tragic thing to have occurred. It seems like the government of Thailand, like many governments, has gotten it all wrong and should be building up programs to help young people rather than shutting things down. If anything, this feels more like they're using this boy's tragedy as an excuse to propagate their own agenda against video games and that's a real shame.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 12:02AM (Unverified) said
I honestly would like to establish an informative group to educate everyone about the facts and myths of games and the industry. Anyone agree?
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Posted: May 25th 2009 12:13AM MystileArmor said
From my understanding, anything that's enjoyable is addictive. It's up to parents to teach children what's acceptable and what's not.
If your kid feels like the world ends when he/she can't play games anymore, you have to look at why those games are so important to your child. There is a bigger problem here then just addiction.
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If your kid feels like the world ends when he/she can't play games anymore, you have to look at why those games are so important to your child. There is a bigger problem here then just addiction.
Posted: May 25th 2009 12:18AM Raven 415 said
O.k...... you are claiming that this child killed himself over not being able to play these games...... So your answer is to deny these games to everyone in your country? Best case scenario.... You end up with millions of pissed off people. Worst case scenario... you find out how addictive these games our when the suicide rate in your country skyrockets!!!
I mean honestly.... if they thought denying one kid video games caused his suicide..... why would they decide to simultaneously deny the whole country.
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I mean honestly.... if they thought denying one kid video games caused his suicide..... why would they decide to simultaneously deny the whole country.
Posted: May 25th 2009 2:49PM Korwyn said
well this is not the first time though that a kid kill himself. When the Final Fantasy VIII (Japanese version) was released a kid beat it once and killed himself leaving a suicide note to his mum saying that he wanted to be reincarnated as a Japanese so he could understand the story better. Thx god the gov didn't react the same way they just did. think of Final Fantasy being banned how many more pissed off gamers would be?
Hey Thai gov!! Look vdo game isn't all bad you know!? How did you think I learn English beside school anyway? One of my encouragement was to be able to play RPG and understand the story. I was born in quite a slum in Bangkok city and vdo games are responsible for who I am today (a restaurant owner in the US). vdo games kept me away from hanging out with those losers in my neighborhood which are pretty much drug dealers or street gamblers.
I'm pretty sure I've heard of teenagers killed themselves not being able to pass the entrance exam into those top well-known universities in Thailand. Why don't you gov shut down those universities too?
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Hey Thai gov!! Look vdo game isn't all bad you know!? How did you think I learn English beside school anyway? One of my encouragement was to be able to play RPG and understand the story. I was born in quite a slum in Bangkok city and vdo games are responsible for who I am today (a restaurant owner in the US). vdo games kept me away from hanging out with those losers in my neighborhood which are pretty much drug dealers or street gamblers.
I'm pretty sure I've heard of teenagers killed themselves not being able to pass the entrance exam into those top well-known universities in Thailand. Why don't you gov shut down those universities too?
Posted: May 25th 2009 12:20AM (Unverified) said
R.I.P. Let the joy of videogames be synonymous with your name.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 12:22AM HighEntropy said
"Pongsathorn Wattanabenjasopha" makes this sound fake.
"Pongsathorn in your side."
Ironic, no?
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"Pongsathorn in your side."
Ironic, no?
Posted: May 25th 2009 12:29AM (Unverified) said
Glad I don't live there.
Child was messed up to begin with.
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Child was messed up to begin with.
Posted: May 25th 2009 12:46AM RKN said
What an insensitive comment, I don't believe where he was living was a cause for his suicide, at least not a major one. You weren't in his shoes so you couldn't possibly understand what he was going through. People cope with things in different ways, for instance, some guys can shrug off a breakup of their girlfriend no problem, whereas for others, its the end of the world and they feel they need to end their life.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 12:44AM RKN said
God bless this young boy and may he be in a better place. I can certainly sympathize with those who have committed suicide. I hope your death will not be in vain and serve to remind others that videogame addiction can be just as serious as addictions to alcohol or drugs, its just a serious an issue.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 1:05AM (Unverified) said
There are times to make fun of peoples name. This is not one of them.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 1:49AM Raito said
If you can afford video games in Thailand your family should be pretty well off for the standards over there. I speak from experience. I would blame the parents, or other factors. Though Thailand is no disneyland, living there is not bad enough for you to want to commit suicide. Heck, most of the people are nice. The government just blows.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 1:18AM Gun Barrier said
If they think games can make people suicide.... then wouldn't banning all the games make everyone like him suicide all at once? Probably not, but they shouldn't have done this.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 1:50AM (Unverified) said
Anything that happens in Asia doesn't surprise me.
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Posted: May 25th 2009 2:13AM AUserName said
>"The boy's suicide reflected that children who were addicted to games and had an aggressive mentality were more likely to commit suicide than others."
>suicide reflected that children who were addicted to games and had an aggressive mentality were more likely
>had an aggressive mentality
Exchange video games with chronic masturbation, porn, or eating babies and it would still have the same end. Some people are just screwed up. Put whatever label you want on what they got, but their still just plain ol' screwed the hell up.
Excuse me while I go aggressively kick some cute puppies.
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>suicide reflected that children who were addicted to games and had an aggressive mentality were more likely
>had an aggressive mentality
Exchange video games with chronic masturbation, porn, or eating babies and it would still have the same end. Some people are just screwed up. Put whatever label you want on what they got, but their still just plain ol' screwed the hell up.
Excuse me while I go aggressively kick some cute puppies.
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