Youths to give up alcohol for Lent
More than half of Thai youths, 54 per cent, say they will stop drinking alcoholic beverages during Buddhist Lent, according to a July 5-6 poll conducted by Bangkok University.
Young people aged 15-22 also said they planned to abide by the five Buddhist virtues during the three-month lenten period, which begins next week. Besides abstaining from alcohol, youths say they will also refrain from committing sins like stealing and lying. Meanwhile, the Youth Forum on Tobacco Control reported that Thailand gained 200,000-300,000 new smokers per year, mainly due to a lack of effective measures to prevent young people from adopting the habit. Prof Prakit Vetisathokkit, secretary-general of the anti-smoking organisation, said Thai teens usually picked up the habit at the age of 13-14. An estimated 375,900 teens are addicted to smoking, while nearly 80,000 smoke occasionally. "Recent research in the US has found that it's very difficult to quit smoking and it takes as many as 20 attempts to be successful. As a result, it is more effective to prevent teens from taking up the habit. Our focus is to encourage teen-to-teen communications in the fight against smoking," he said.
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