ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN THAILAND: A STUDY OF THE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, GAMBLING, AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS

This paper provides a thorough study of alcohol consumption in Thailand in terms of the relationships between this activity and tobacco consumption, gambling consumption, and demographic factors. Logistic regression and Treenet are used to analyze datasets drawn from a socio-economic survey of 43,830 Thai households conducted in 2009. Using logistic regression to analyze the likelihood of alcohol consumption, we found that household tobacco expenditure, the region in which the household is located, household gambling expenditure, household income, and the educational level, religion, sex, age, work status, and marital status of the head of household are all associated with a household's alcohol consumption. The strongest predictors of household alcohol consumption are tobacco expenditure, the religion and sex of the head of household. Using Treenet to analyze household expenditure on alcohol, we found that both the proportion of household expenditure spent on tobacco and the proportion of household expenditure spent on gambling are important factors. The results of our study show that alcohol, tobacco, and gambling co-occur. Given these relationships, programs that successfully target households with alcohol-dependent members will not only reduce alcohol consumption in Thailand but will reduce tobacco consumption and gambling consumption likewise.