Thailand urged to do more on suicide prevention

PHOTO: Amansquest.com

In Thailand, World Suicide Prevention Day was marked yesterday by the Director General of the Mental Health Department calling on the country to do more to address the issue of suicide.

Kiattipoom Wongrajit was speaking to the Thai language daily Thai Rath yesterday. According to his department, around 11 people commit suicide every day in Thailand, with the vast majority being men.

In 2018, 4,137 Thai people took their own lives, 3,327 of whom were men. Suicide is far more prevalent in people aged 25 to 59, followed by those over 60, with the lowest rate being in the 10 to 24 year age group.

World Suicide Prevention Day is an annual awareness day, observed globally on September 10, as part of worldwide efforts on suicide prevention.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), someone loses their life to suicide every 40 seconds.

Thailand has 14.4 of suicides per 100,000 population – or nearly 10,000 suicide deaths last year. It is number 1 among ASEAN countries on the WHO’s suicide list.

Read more HERE.

SOURCE: Thai Residents