Alcohol consumption exacts a huge economic toll in Thailand, estimated to amount to 2% of the gross domestic product as of 2006 (Thavorncharoensap et al., 2010). However, excepting small candidate gene studies, there have been few studies on alcohol genetics in the Thai population, and to date, no GWAS. One previous study (Assanangkornchai et al., 2003) showed that ALDH2 variation is related to hazardous drinking and facial flushing in Thai males. Another study reviewed population genetics of the most relevant alcohol metabolizing enzyme variants in Asians, including Thais (Eng et al., 2007).
