Why Thailand Has Highest Suicide Rate In South East Asia

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the globe, millions of lives have been lost, not to mention people losing their only source of income. While in Thailand, a person named Unyakarn Booprasert has no one to seek help and money from and she was forced to split one pack of ramen into 3 meals a day.

Hopes have all been lost and people were left to despair Unyakarn also felt hopeless waiting for the 15,000 Baht($450) promised by the government as a scheme of "No One Left Behind". Unyakarn belongs to the 15 million people who did not fulfill the criteria to receive aid.

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Despite her making numerous appeals, it was blatantly rejected by the Ministry of Finance. To make matters worse she attempted to end her life in front of the Ministry building as a sign of protest. Then by reviewing back her case, the government decided that Unyakarn is eligible to receive the money.

Her depressing story is one of the millions of cases that are currently happening in Thailand resulting in the high suicide rate in southeast Asia.

Suicide Rate Exponentially Increase
The suicide rate in Thailand has increased tremendously ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hits the country hard. As many as 2551 people have committed suicide in the first 6 months of 2020. This was a 22% increase from the same time in the previous year 2019.

Most of the people that were affected were the ones involved in tourism, foreigners as well as sex workers. The tourism industry contributes to 12% of Thailand's GDP and when borders were closed to curb the spread of COVID-19, this makes the whole situation a lot worse.

According to an economist, Thanaporn Sriyakul, sex workers will be among those that are heavily affected as most of them were not registered under the social security system and have limited access to government aid.

Culture and Economy as The Main Cause
However, this is not something new in Thailand as a similar situation happened before during the Asia financial crisis in 1997. At that time, the number of suicide case increased by 20 to 25%. Before the presence of covid, Thailand already ranks as the highest suicide rate in southeast Asia.

According to World Health Organization(WHO), the suicide rate in Thailand is at ratio of 14.4 per 100,000 people whereas the average global ratio will be 10.5 per 100,000 people. This is alarmingly high and it is estimated that every 10 mins, there will be someone committing suicide in Thailand.
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Professor Antonio L Rappa from the University of Social Science Singapore also believed that the economy and culture are the main factors for the high suicide rate in Thailand. He has studied the history, politics, and culture of Thailand for more than 20 years.

Aside from the economy, Rappa also stated that the people of Thailand have a long history of becoming so-called fighters and are used to the idea of death. The protest happening in Thailand also means that people are willing to die for their cause.

In fact, the Buddhism Trerava ideology that is currently being practiced widely even teaches them to accept this idea.

The government is on a roll to combat suicide

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of hotlines have been established to provide support and advice for those in need but other problems arise. Since there were many calls, this also means that some of them will have to wait for 10-12 mins before their call are answered.

Many people are not willing to wait that long in order to be answered and the waiting time is long despite the Department of Mental Health providing as many as 20 hotlines available. This just shows how serious the case in Thailand is.

On top of that, the government also gives additional support by providing mental health treatment in public hospitals with a low fee of only 30 baht ($0.90). With every good move, there will always be a flaw.

According to the mental health advisory, Amornthep Sachamuneewongse, the lack of mental health workers will also mean that people will queue for a much longer time to get their treatment. Some people might consider going to private hospitals to get their treatment but they must be prepared to flush their wallets as the fees are much higher.

Even Amornthep himself attempted to end his life several years ago due to experiencing hallucinations and depression similar to schizophrenia. It took almost a year in order for him to be diagnosed with it.

This just shows the amount of weight that has to be carried on their shoulders to solve the issue of thousands of people having similar issues. It is definitely no easy task for the government of Thailand.

More Help Being Given

The Thailand government realized that there should be a campaign going on to raise awareness regarding mental health. The local authority has worked together with several NGOs, technology firms and even got help from the entertainment industry.

In order to reach the public efficiently, the Thailand government has established a special task force called Hope Task Force that utilizes social media like Facebook, TikTok, and Line as a medium to communicate with patients.

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These platforms have provided many sources of aid as well as enabled the volunteers and health care professionals to connect effectively by communicating in a group with the patient. This helps to solve more problems that the patient may encounter.

Not just that but the Mental Health department also builds an application to self-check your current mental health status. The users will be given a series of questions that comprises depression, anxiety, and stress(DASS).

In order to stay close to the youths, the governments also collaborated with Unicef and Joox Thailand in a campaign known as "The Sound of Happiness". The campaign features a podcast, music, and a share of experiences from celebrities on mental health.

If that's not enough, a song was also made with the title "Nai Lao" which was published by hip-hop artists Autta, Blacksheep, and Milli and quickly became a favorite among the youngsters.

According to the publisher of the song and the label founder of YUPP!, Sakkapit Makun, the government might be lacking in resources to help solve the mental health issues in Thailand due to COVID-19 but contributions from all parties will be able to help reduce the burden of the people of Thailand.

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