A deadly shooting at an e-sports tourney in the United States highlights the need to nurture the right attitudes in e-sports competitors and online gamers in Thailand.
Suriyadeo Tripathi urged state agencies to come up with appropriate measures to teach sportsmanship to gamers contesting in e-sports and people addicted to online games before such a tragedy takes place in the country.
"State agencies have to take the lead in promoting sportsmanship. If they have not thought about it, a shooting spree like the one in Florida could happen in other places, including Thailand," the director of the National Institute for Child and Family Development said in an interview on CU Radio of Chulalongkorn University.
On Sunday, David Katz shot two men and wounded 10 others with his handgun during an online video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. The 24-year-old later killed himself. He was among 130 contestants in the competition.
Dr Suriyadeo was airing his concern as e-sports are gaining ground in Thailand.
The Sports Association of Thailand for the first time recognised e-sports in October last year. It cleared the way for the setting up of the Thailand E-sports Federation.
The federation's website says it will groom responsible gamers for the country. Members are required to have a strict discipline in managing playtime so that their health won't be affected, according to a condition for new members.
Online games can make gamers an e-sports play or something else. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
The road to pushing e-sports to be officially accepted has not been smooth. Child rights advocates and parent groups have strongly opposed the plan. They claim accepting e-sports could send the wrong message to children, exacerbate game addiction and promote violent content, among other worries.
Federation president Santhi Lothong told The Standard, a Thai website, in October that one of the tasks was to raise awareness among the public of the benefits of e-sports. "We can encourage the youth to play games in constructive ways," he said.
Dr Suriyadeo said on CU Radio that the country embraced e-sports without plans to protect young gamers from the negative consequences of addiction. "The burden has been passed on to their families," he said.
Endorphins, when benefit the body, are released during a sports activity but e-sports could release adrenaline, a hormone that makes gamers nervous and stressful, he said. It would be dangerous for young players as they might not be able to keep their composure under stress, he added.
The child development expert said e-sports "claimed" to be sports although they didn't fit the definition.
The Office of the Royal Society defines sports as an activity or play for fun and health, which can ease stress.
"E-sports definitely does not fall into this definition," Dr Suriyadeo said.
E-sports is an exhibition sport at the Asian Games in Indonesia, with Thai teams attending the demonstration. It will officially become a category when Hangzhou in China hosts the next games in 2022.