Warning over child #Addiction

Mental health department urges govt to rethink decision to recognize online gaming

THE MOVE to officially recognise eSports could lead to children becoming addicted to online games, health experts warn.

Mental Health Department adviser Dr Yongyud Wongpiromsarn said the promotion of eSports would likely do more harm than good. 

“We have already established a panel to raise this issue at the National Health Assembly forum later this year,” he said. 

.

FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

.

 Yongyud hoped that relevant authorities, including political office holders, would review the Sports Authority of Thailand’s decision in 2017 to recognise eSports as a form of sport. 

“We are worried that in the end more Thai children will become addicted to games,” Yongyud said. (But the are already addicted)

He said most countries in the world had not treated online games as sports and pointed out that although eSports made a presence at the 2018 Asian Games, it was there just as a demonstration game. 

A study in the United States revealed recently that just one in 1 million online-gamers could become a professional in the field, he said. “Dozens of thousands, meanwhile, have become game addicts,” he said. 

In Thailand, the Institute of Child and Adolescent Mental Health reported that as many as 60 children had sought treatments for game addiction in recent months. (years)

“The number of game addicts has risen by one-fold since eSports has become recognised as a form of sport,” Yongyud said. 

He said his concern was shared by people working for the protection of children. 

 Some entrepreneurs promoted eSports by claiming that players’ skills could build a future career, and some even offered to host eSports competitions for schools. 

“In France, students can’t even play with cellphones in school compounds,” Yongyud said. In Thailand, at least eight universities offer courses related to eSports. 

Teerarat Pantawee, who heads the National Health Assembly’s panel on children and media, told a recent forum that eSports had grown in popularity partly because there were many official eSports contests and promotions.

Excessive exposure

“Thailand’s eSports industry is now worth more than Bt10 billion. It has also been growing at the rate of 12 per cent per annum,” she said.

According to the 2018 DQ Impact Report, which examines the “precarious status of children’s exposure to cyber-risks worldwide”, Thai children spend 35 hours a week online. Of all children using the Internet in Thailand, more than 50 per cent go online to play games.

Teerarat said many children were now negotiating for more online game-playing time by arguing with their parents that their games are a sport.

But “game addiction causes physical, mental and brain problems”, she warned.

“Children’s excessive exposure to such media is not good for developing their intellectual and emotional quotients,” Teerarat emphasised. 

Sourse - TheNation 

Ps.

But this is nothing new.

So long the elite providers support their internet-cafes  (almost to find in every street / city)   nothing go changed.

The most can not even write their own name in a common language. (education)

Thailand - Learning from the economic giant next door

Most Thai students tend to pursue studies abroad either in the United States or Europe, which are regarded as open societies and champions of freedom. But some Thai students are walking a different path.

They are choosing China as their educational destination to learn how this developing country has transformed itself in four decades from a poor country to an economic powerhouse and the world’s second-largest economy.

[Related story: Why so many foreign students are flocking to China]

“I’m impressed by how fast China is growing. I want to learn how to do business with Chinese people,” said Patcharamai Sawanaporn, 25, a postgraduate student at the Faculty of WTO, Law and Economics at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing.

When China kicked-off its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, the UIBE launched a BRI scholarship programme last year. Patcharamai is one of 17 international scholarship students benefiting from the BRI scholarships sponsored by the Chinese government.

Patcharamai likes the Chinese language because she is familiar with it. Her family traces its roots to China hence she studied the Chinese language since her childhood. 

After graduating in international relations on China’s foreign policy from the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University, she worked for two years before applying for the BRI scholarship last year.

Unlike Patcharamai, Nalin Phongpuksa, 26, a postgraduate MBA student, Chinese programme, at the UIBE, was forced to learn Chinese. But it has all been worth it for she has now fallen in love with the country and its language. 

Nalin said she was not interested in studying the Chinese language but 10 years ago, her mother – a Thai diplomat – forced her daughter to learn the language before her diplomatic posting for four years, as she wanted Nalin to prepare for life in Beijing. Nalin did her high school in China’s capital and later returned to Thailand with her mother.
.
FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS
.
 After she graduated from Mahamakut Buddhist University and worked for two years in the field of logistics she came back to Beijing.

“China is growing rapidly as an economy and I think I could learn more from them. So last year I applied for a scholarship to come back to study here,” she said.

Both students found life in China was not very difficult, although in the beginning the language barrier was a problem as well as restrictions on accessing social media. But the Thai students have finally settled down and are enjoying the conveniences the country allows foreign students. 

They have no problem with their host country’s restricted access to certain websites and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. They have managed to find a way to bypass the restrictions and access online information and social media.

They rely on a VPN or Virtual Private Network, a secure tunnel between two or more devices, which enables them to keep in touch with the world outside China, as well as their families and friends in Thailand.

 READ CONTINUE

PS.
Another point is, almost the whole Thai youth is addicted on playing games, and prefer to sit in the to many Internet-cafes.
Almost the can not write there own name in a common language. 
''SHAME''
Who want employ these addicted youth