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The Department of Mental Health (DMH) is warning of rising suicide rates among both working and retired people.
According to the DMH, an average of 53.000 attempted suicides are attempted annually in Thailand, of which 4.000 actually lead to suicide. DMH director-general Dr Amporn Benjaponpitak says suicide is now the second leading cause of death after traffic accidents when it comes to unnatural deaths in Thailand. She added that major risk factors driving people to commit suicide are stress and depression.
Those early in their careers are four times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than other adults, according to a recent survey. Many people face financial pressures during the college-to-work transition, especially in the context of a status-driven, materialistic society. This risk group has also been steadily increasing over the past four years. Dr Amporn said love and support from family and friends can help people avoid suicidal thoughts.
Another cause of stress and depression is the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions put in place to contain the virus. Along with fear of the disease and potential grief, experts say some aspects of the lockdown — such as isolation, loneliness, loss of social support networks, unemployment and financial insecurity — are highly damaging to mental health.
According to data from the World Health Organization, nearly 800.000 people worldwide die by suicide each year.
Source: NNT- National News Bureau of Thailand
Just today, Khaosod English's Facebook page read about a desperate saleswoman (meatball vendor) who had 30 baht outstanding debt with a loanshark and could no longer pay the 1000 baht daily payment to that loanshark. She had climbed 30 meters high into a transmission tower to end her life, but was able to be talked down safely by her husband and the police.
For the well-to-do, 30 thousand baht is almost nothing, for the average Thai without good papers that is easily 3 monthly salaries… A human life is worth a bit more, I hope?
Rob V., loansharks are not known for soft methods when it comes to collecting a debt. Cut off your hand, I read a long time ago. I can imagine that lady was seriously panicked. Although talking is a better method than taking your life.
Rob,
We lost a house that we had built for a family member in this way 2 years ago.
Cost 1 million baht.
The woman of the family had apparently taken out a loan from a loanshark for her young daughter who was getting a family extension.
They have now lost the house and the woman lives with her mother again.
Could that be one of the reasons why I often wear black glasses.
Life can be quite disastrous in Thailand for the less wealthy Thai.
In my opinion, Thailand remains a country where people, even as Farang, have to be careful with their hard-earned money.
Not everyone wants to hear this, I've noticed before.
in Thailand, euthanasia is prohibited by law. There is no death penalty yet. So for desperate people, suicide is the only way out of life. I visit Buriram very regularly, in a small town where there is very little to nothing to do. There is no 7/11, no bank, not even an ATM, no pub(s), no restaurant(s). So a dead lot. What there is, however, is great solidarity among each other. My wife grew up there and years ago took care of the children, who are now getting married. We have also been able to celebrate a funeral with it several times. The young people leave to find work elsewhere. The population ages quickly, all people who have worked on the rice fields. Many old people walk with their noses on the ground because they can no longer get up from the rheumatism contracted when planting rice. These people can no longer work and have not accrued a pension. Together they try to make something of life and look at each other. They even organize a large village festival every year that lasts several days. People cook with and for each other and there is plenty of drink and music. If you cannot come to the party, a food package will be provided.
And to get through the boredom, friendship can be found in the Lao Kao, the rice distillate. It is dirt cheap and I advise everyone to drink it in very large measure. In this town we have been to a funeral of old people who died of excessive Lao Kao use. Their way of euthanasia or suicide, who knows. I don't think they count in the official suicide rates.
Unfortunately, many elderly and also young people in Isaan are alcoholics.
In my opinion, not only because of the hard existence, but also because of the many TV series, where extensive lavish wealth is proclaimed as the benchmark.
If you cannot comply with this, alcohol / narcotics will remain.
Why you advise everyone to drink the lao kao in very large quantities is a mystery to me.
Alcohol is one of the biggest problem causes in Thai families and the self-distilled lao kao sometimes leads to blindness or even death, as recently shown on the Thai news.
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Thalley says to drink WITH a lot and not to drink IN a large amount so to be careful with this stuff because you can quickly become drunk and addicted to it.
It is strange that Dr Amporn says that suicide is the second cause of death after traffic accidents.
If you do not include the other causes of death, this order may be correct.
In the village where I now live there are also unemployed young people (20 to 30 years old) who are also addicted to alcohol. The reason is not that they buy so much. They buy almost nothing, on petrol for the moped and drinks. The money comes monthly from the mother who is married to a foreigner and lives and works in Europe.
yes chris.
.
By the way, if you don't send money, your inventory of your house will end up at the pawn shop.
That is the case with us.
Everything that is loose and fixed is pawned.
Even the fencing is gone
I think that becoming addicted to alcohol is caused by TV programs with extreme opulence.
The young people do not buy much more than gasoline and alcohol, but I think that seeing all kinds of unattainable luxury on TV every day can be the reason.
Addictive behaviors can be found in all population groups. Rich, poor, young, old you name it. The glorification of these so-called stimulants is the order of the day. It pays off in the lives of many. A hopeless life is only one of the reasons that people tell themselves, but which apparently hold up with a certain group. Loving yourself and taking care of yourself is not given to everyone. Anyway, people are complex and that is also reflected in suicides. The euthanasia issue also plays a significant factor. In Thailand you can't even put your terminally ill dog to sleep at the vet. A week's torment is what remains for this animal. Three of my dogs have now died in this way. A sad mess and totally unnecessary. This is also Thailand.
A bit presumptuous to talk about Isaan and the luxurious life. Alcohol use occurs everywhere, has nothing to do with Isan itself because do you really think that every province in Central, Northern or Southern Thailand differs from the Isan provinces; I have decades of experience in various parts of Thailand and there is really no difference when we talk about money, poverty, alcohol or whatever. In addition, you could even argue that those who live in small towns have little or no contact with the wealthy upper class, which is why the 10 to 15 million people in the Bangkok region come because they also watch TV and in addition, the rich life plays out. in Bangkok, say with their neighbors, so they constantly see the class differences, while those elsewhere in Thailand live in circles that are similar to themselves.
sorry i oversubscribed. I meant drinking Lao Kao in very small measure because of the health risks like blindness and death. My apologies.
These kinds of subjects should be a reason for the government to make (and implement) real policy. Such as fighting poverty and real help for addicts instead of leaving it to the well-intentioned in the villages. In the message from the ministry, people do not get any further when open doors are kicked in, as is so often the case in Thailand.
Indeed, and a basic income would help a lot.
https://www.thailandblog.nl/opinie/ideeen-voor-het-post-corona-tijdperk-het-basisinkomen/
A basic income is a very bad idea. Just a good social safety net.
An excellent idea, which has been proposed worldwide in the past century by various left and right parties in various countries. It is the simplest way to set up a social safety net without the bureaucracy and red tape that require all kinds of standard surcharges (checks, buildings full of officials). But in Thailand, a country and a government that are not really known for thinking out of the box and seem fond of more and more paperwork and rules, I don't see this getting off the ground anytime soon. So that remains that crazy “blue flag” card where you electronically get X baht for gas, Y baht for public transport in BKK, Z baht for.. etc. Because why do it easy when it can also be difficult? Plebs can't be trusted, too stupid, something like that...
Within the current rotten system, a basic income would be the simplest safety net (duck tape solution). Enough for the basic necessities of life and those who want a nice car, holiday or something else than sitting at home all day, they go to work. A great idea and more feasible than a complete system change (today there is enough food for everyone and still good food ends up on the rubbish dump, that's how this current system is...)
If it was such a good idea, it would have already been introduced in a number of (socialist) countries. That is not the case and it never will be. If you google you can read that even the left-wing newspapers say that the system has more disadvantages than advantages.
The basic income is a safety net, an emergency connection, within a capitalist system, after all there is no right to the basic necessities of life (roof, food, drinking water, education, care, work) as there is in a socialist country. Because in capitalist society workers compete with each other for a job, some of them fall into unemployment or the working poor. In order not to let them die or start stealing, the whole idea of a social safety net has been set up. That also immediately explains, for example, right-wing politicians in heavily capitalist countries, take someone like Nixon who was in favor of embracing this idea of a basic income.
And that is why I also think that this basic income could also suffice as a solid stopgap measure in Thailand. To be paid by… well, there are several extremely wealthy (wealthy) Thai people. A Thai who works for 10 to 50 thousand baht a month would not have to pay a penny more in tax. Therefore, a nice safety net for those who would like to maintain the capitalist system of throwing fine goods on the rubbish dump. Longevity of profits (that's what it's all about anyway), with a simple safety net in the form of basic income. Can Thailand take it again for many years to come.
The funny thing is, Peter, that the objections that were now raised against a basic income were also used against the state pension at the time. Around WWII:
Objections
Various proposals to expand old-age provision encountered fundamental, practical and financial objections. The supporters of the insurance idea foresaw, among other things, practical difficulties with individual premium taxation. A state pension could undo this problem. However, this alternative was rejected by a political majority. Any scheme in which the government provided 'free' benefits would undermine popular power, the reasoning went. This form of state care would also place too heavy a financial burden on the community. Their preference was for a system with premium payments, so that individual responsibility was encouraged. Principled and financial considerations were responsible for the failure to set up a proper old age provision before 1940.
Incidentally, a number of right-wing economists are also in favor of a basic income. And this is in the party program of GroenLinks:
GroenLinks will introduce the basic income gradually - within eight years - for
everyone. The tax system will be adjusted in such a way that people with incomes
around the minimum income will improve considerably, the middle incomes will
progress, and people with incomes higher than twice the average on it
decline. Unconditional income security is necessary
basis for a good and effective climate policy. Only from economic
social security, everyone has room to think, live and live sustainably
to trade.
Of course there are also disadvantages. But I think the benefits are much greater.
Yes, but there is no country in the world that wants it, so that says it all. Or do they not understand it at all?
Free money campaigns have been launched several times during the corona crisis. Those who really needed it used it for its intended purpose and those who didn't need it but got it anyway used it as a tip. Suddenly there was money to buy extra tasty food and to share it.
This way you keep the farmers and market people working, but of course it has nothing to do with a real economy.
Free money such as tip (in Tino's link about 3000 baht p/m in TH, not livable I believe) is in many societies the trigger to start acting crazy and that is at odds with what an employer sees as stable for the company and employee. Free money ok, but then also an adjustment to social security if one is employed.
My closest neighbors (1,5 meters from us) would be delighted with a basic income. I can already tell you where that money would go. No one works or has ever worked, daily alcohol and jaba. Living on the loans their mother collects left and right (and doesn't pay back). I can already write a book about it.
I don't think basic income is worth it. For some well-meaning families, it may be a solution. But for the majority, a higher income will be a welcome opportunity and mean a higher spending pattern. And I don't mean paying back debt.
I see vicious circles in my environment that manage just fine when the economy is doing well, but fall short when there is a crisis. At that moment it is borrowing, borrowing and running if there is the possibility.
Those who don't run away have misplaced pride. We hardly have anything to spend, but my "moped" is broken, so I buy new and on installment at 21% interest per year. A second-hand car costs less and maintenance costs much less than the interest that is paid annually. Ditto for a car, why settle for less than new when you live in a 2500 baht loft with 4 people?
In the meantime, keep gambling or the underground lottery or football and if something is finally won, then this memorable fact is celebrated with fellow players, so that nothing remains under the line.
As a single divorced parent you are heavily in debt so that your child can get a good education at primary school at 90.000 baht per year. More than 1/3 of their own salary with no guarantee that the investment will ever pay off for the mother.
I see with some that they no longer feel like working because that does not yield enough and they are in their thirties with a family…..
I know from the past that life is hard in the absence of money stress and especially when there are no bright spots.
Thailand is different from the Netherlands in many ways and can only watch with amazement how people bury their heads in the sand while there is work to be done to do everything possible to get through not only the present but also the future when everything becomes stiffer. Future……….should we think about that now???? Soon it will get better…
Solution? Education at school from early childhood on the how and what of money, ask people with debts at the neighborhood level to work with a budget coach who also has what it takes and simply implement the rules regarding loan sharks and instead grant micro credits to people who contribute to society but with some authority.
If one wants to escape poverty, it takes freedom.
I also know a woman who has a kind of launderette, which runs reasonably well in the high season,
but as soon as there are no more tourists, the income decreases sharply. (almost no money left)
Reserving emergency reserves is a big problem for many people in Thailand.
A sister once financed the launderette (500k thb) and she also wants to see something in return.
There are also monthly costs, electricity, water, soap, etc.. it is all very difficult.
The nicest thing I ever heard was that she had bought a moped on the rattle, she has to go there every month
converted 80 euros for paying (over a longer period), which is an asset for a Thai.
Have talked about it so often that you first have to save and only then buy, but yes that is difficult.
One hundredth about the education during school time, that's quite a good idea, that they learn how to handle money. White people are often said kiniau, that's just so, but they can still be kiniau by being kiniau to Thailand and do many other things.
Completely agree with how you worded it. In my village I also see how things are going every day. And yet there are those who muster up the courage to get on the bus and work shifts at Seagate, 50 miles away. But there are also those who give up because the money earned serves to support family members and relatives (even cousins) who do not want to muster a work ethic and prefer their freedom.
Yes, it's a vicious circle. When I see how the children serve from an early age to drag the plastic bag with ice cubes and a new load of beer from the shop for the adults who are sitting together, then something will certainly stick with me later. And then I'm not even talking about the underground lottery where the children are invariably asked for 'help' to give the winning numbers.
A basic income or a social safety net is impossible in a country with a neoliberal system, the tax system in Thailand is so in favor of the upper 10 that the middle incomes who in fact pay all taxes cannot finance this.