Long winding road to ruin

For 28-year-old Bank*, gambling — once a pastime he enjoyed with friends — was never meant to interfere with his priorities in life which mainly centred on raising a happy family and propelling his budding career at a start-up company to greater heights. The adrenaline-pumping excitement which came with winning his first lottery, where he pocketed 3,000 baht, began a chain of events that led to him being hooked to other forms of gambling within the first year of his marriage.

The strong urge to visit illegal gambling dens after work put an enormous strain on both his marriage and career; his bosses were on the verge of firing him because his work performance had hit rock bottom.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Thailand last year, Bank’s addiction to gambling caused him to lose his job, and his wife asked him for a divorce after watching him sneak…