A newly survey from the Centre for Gambling Studies at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University reveals that 30.42 million Thai residents—57 percent of the population—have gambled in 2019, even though the activity is illegal in the country.
More than 44,000 people 77 provinces were polled, according to the Thailand News. The total figure is 1.49 million more than in 2017 and includes 700,000 first-time gamblers.
The survey showed that about 733,000 people in the 15-to-18-yar-old age bracket had gambled during the period—more than one-fifth of the youth population—along with 3.05 million people aged 19 to 25, or 46.3 percent of young adults.
Among those 60 and over, a total of 3.35 million, or 42.2 percent of older adults population admitted they had gambled. The report said that the youngest gambler is seven years old.
Betting on football was the most popular activity, generating THB160.5 billion (US$5.3 billion) in wagers, while illegal lotteries took in THB153.2 billion. The legal government lottery collected less than that: THB150.4 billion.
The only legal forms of gambling in Thailand are on horse racing at the Bangkok Turf Club and the government lottery. Thai residents are known to visit gaming halls across the border in Cambodia, particularly Poipet, a four-hour drive from Bangkok.
