Up to 1.5 million students are expected to place bets on matches during the upcoming World Cup - and indebted students could face sexual harassment, violence or even commit suicide, a leading researcher has warned.

Students were likely to wager Bt300-400 million on Cup matches this month, and there are fears that gambling will cause serious problems, particularly for schoolchildren.

Amornwit Nakhonthap, an associate professor at Chulalongkorn University and director of the Ramjitti Institute, says research conducted by the Child Watch Project revealed that among the predicted 1.5 million students who will gamble, 5 per cent - or up to 120,000 - will still be in primary school.

Higher-level students were likely to spend between Bt100 and Bt1,000 per match during the tournament, according to the research, which showed most student gamblers would be in the Northeast.

Amornwit said: "We found many students who had been injured, threatened and, especially, sexual harassed at the hands of bookies forcing them to pay their debts."

He gave the example of a boy who was kidnapped from outside his school and held for four to five days in a motel until his parents came to clear his debt - allegedly tens of thousands of baht.

In another case, a girl was forced into the sex trade in order to pay back a debt for her boyfriend.

Amornwit said research in Canada and the US had found debts from betting on football matches were a main cause of teenage suicide.

"I want to ask the media not to provide gambling odds for each match because it may tempt young readers to gamble," he said.

Thai Health Promotion Foundation manager Supakorn Buasai said alcohol consumption was another concern during the football tournament as drink producers often use the event to promote the sale of alcohol.

Thai Health together with 300 organisations in 30 countries, including 69 in Thailand, have signed a petition asking FIFA not to accept sponsorship from alcohol producers.

Supakorn said: "FIFA banned cigarette sponsorship in 1996, so we hope such action will be taken again this time [with alcohol sponsorship]."

Chatrarat Kaewmorakot

 The Nation