Three Thai Drinkers Die Every Hour
The Thai Health Promotion Foundation (Thai Health) has revealed that drinking kills 26,000 people, an average of three per hour, each year.
The report said deaths in alcohol-related road accidents accounted for one-third of all casualties. It also stated that the number of teenagers, aged 15-19, who took to drinking had been rising at an alarming rate. Around 2.5 million people around the world die from drinking every year.
Five million Thais, aged 15-59 years old, drink regularly. Of that number, 3 million have become alcoholics; only two percent of the 3 million have sought treatment.
The Center for Alcohol Studies stated that Thailand imported 6.8-billion-baht's worth of alcoholic drinks each year; 80 percent of which were from Europe. The Center was worried that if the Thai-EU free trade negotiation, scheduled for next year, did not set a limit on the import of spirits; more people would become addicted to alcohol. It added that, as preventive policies against alcohol would be in conflict with the FTA, it would be even more difficult to control alcohol consumption.
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