Abstract
Study on Alcohol’s Harm to Others (HTO) is an innovative paradigm for revisiting the whole range
of alcohol-related problems. It comprehensively focuses on the negative consequences of alcohol drinking
to non-drinkers. Patterns of relationship between drinker and non-drinkers play a major role for this
harm. Problems emerged from drinking by family member, relative, friend, colleague or stranger in
society can be vastly different in terms of magnitude and pattern. The range of HTO covers from the less
severe such as mere annoyance to the most severe such as assault and death. HTO-related national data
were only available from social cost study, population survey and data of service system such as the
hospital, the police and court cases. But due to methodological or conceptual constraints, the data might
not best reflect the real situation. While Thai society may recognize alcohol-related traffic accident and
domestic violence as HTO, other problems have been largely ignored. Other HTO issues have not been
covered such as quality of life, impact on physical, mental health and belonging of people surrounding
drinker, impact to children and youth from parents and caretakers as well as impact on co-workers in
workplace. Comprehensive HTO data could demonstrate panoramic magnitude and severity of negative
impacts to the public, support alcohol policy development, and raise public awareness.
