I was doing some research into Thailand, general statistical information, as part of my education about my adopted country.

I bought several books over the past weekend, from the history of the Thailand Kings, to the history of Thailand and Bangkok, Burmese Thailand history etc.

I came across some interesting statistics about AIDS and just how stupid politicians can be.

The statistics only published to 2003:

Thailand statistics

Estimated total population, July 2004 : 64,865,523

Estimated number of people living with HIV, end 2003: 570,000

Adults (15-49) : 560,000

Women (15-49) : 200,000

Children (0-15) : 12,000

Estimated adult HIV prevalence , end 2003: 1.5%

Estimated number of AIDS deaths in 2003 : 58,000

Extract : "It has been estimated that each year up until the end of 2006, over 50,000 Thais will die from AIDS-related causes. Over 90% of these deaths will occur in people aged 20-44, the most productive sector of the workforce".

And how dumb are politicians and I quote : A group of Thai MPs proposed that all foreigners should be required to pass an "AIDS test" before being admitted to the country. There is no evidence that Thai to Thai sex increases or contributes to AIDS - DOH!

You forget to mention that many farang that come to this country come only for sex, repeat visits for sex and are the first dwellers of Pattaya, Phuket and the Soi Cowboys, Nana and Patpong...

Many of those are probably no role model in AIDS prevention...

Interesting statistics...

Statistics are easily misleading mainly because there are SO many angles that are left out.

Example: of all those men/women how many work/endulge in the Sex Industry of Thailand.

Now its easy to see the number of Men is almost twice that of women which could suggest multiple things. In any case it is an interesting Journal entry

this just proove that to be MP u don t need to have a brain

or at least a dysfonctunal one

It's pretty standard practice to blame everything on immigrants, especially HIV. I've seen this in every country I've ever been in.

Sure Wallace but, the majority of the industry caters to nationals however what Mike was pointing out was that he considered excessive was requiring these tests from the foreigners. Nationals are subject to different policies.

A different subject is how to carry on prevention in all fronts but that is out of the scope of the discussion.

The quote from the politicians are many years old, and politicians in other countries have suggested similar measures. It's not just Thai politicians who are stupid.

HIV rates in places such as Patpong, Nana, Cowboy and others frequented by Westerners are generally lower than in red light districts frequented by Thais. Westerners are generally better educated about HIV and most use condoms.

Condom use is also relatively high in Thai brothels, thanks to a government campaign to try and stop the spread of HIV. This campaign was initiated by the government of Anand Panyarachun - a government which was royally appointed in the aftermath of May 1992, not an elected group of politicians. The driving force behind this was Mechai Viravaidya, who was Minister of Health and also Tourism, in that government.

According to numerous studies, HIV in Thailand started in the population of injecting drug users. It them spread to commercial sex workers and their clients. And the determining factors of why it spread faster in Thailand than some other Asian societies are the average number of clients each sex worker would service each day and the percentage of Thai males who patronize sex workers.

That number was conservatively estimated at 40% of the make population. That's high compared to other places.

Today, however, more and more HIV is spread outside of brothels. Places such as karaoke bars, hostess clubs, etc. aren't part of the condom program and arein't monitored. And more and more it is being spread through the "giks" the casual sexual encounters between Thais. An alarmingly high percentage of people in these relationships do not use condoms. They think because they are not with a sex worker they are safe.

They are wrong.

According to Sen. Mechai Thailand is facing a renewed HIV epidemic. The reason, he says, is the stupidity of politicians, and in particular Thaksin Shinawatra. Mechai claims that Thaksin has not kept one single promise he made as far as fighting AIDS is concerned. And so the numbers are rising once again.

** Wallace is calling a hospital near by to have his HIV test done ASAP so that he can travel to Thailand again **

Babe if ur going in for a test .........I guess I have to too....damn why u gonna lie to me like that???

Wallace wrote:

"I think while sex tourists (foreigners) gather around BKK, Pattaya and Phuket ... the 3 most popular nightlife areas; Thais would contribute HIVs to every corner in the country (from massage parlours in Ratchada to local brothels in Issan up to Golden triangle, etc).

Even without too much statistics, I would assume that the % of HIV contributed by Farangs should be much less than local Thais ... maybe that's my illusion??"

It's true that Thais are a bigger factor in the spread of HIV in Thailand than foreigners.

However, your first statemetnt reveals the kind of mistaken assumptions that contribute to the spread of the disease dn are shared by some politicians.

The prostitutes who work in Patpong, Nana, Cowboy, etc., don't live apart from the rest of Thai society. They have Thai boyfriends. They go back upcountry to boyfriends and husbands. If they are infected, they take it back and spread it there.

Just like the drug users, gays, etc., don't live in isolation from the rest of society. They spread it lovers, sex partners and others.

Many politicians did not want to do anything about AIDS when it first appeared because they were hoping these groups (gays, drug users, prostitutes) would basically wipe themselves out.

Instead, the rest of society became infected because of the stupidity of these politicians.

At least the stupidity lies among the polticians (where dosn't it) as opposed to having also the religious leaders doing nothing in promotion of the use of condoms (Vatican sounds familiar??)

The issue is fundamentally educational, start with giving proper information at schools and at home. The first is already done, at homes well, I don't know to what degree Thai parents talk about this with their children...

Maybe if they started a campaging as gruesome as the traffic accident and cigarretes one's soemthing would reach the public.

But how will they include such campaign on TV an issue as controversial as this one, when it is inextricably tied with infidelity, prositution and the like... Given the reserved nature of Thai people a campaign of this sort would be perceived to be innapropriate and offensive. and very understandably too...

"The issue is fundamentally educational, start with giving proper information at schools and at home. The first is already done, at homes well, I don't know to what degree Thai parents talk about this with their children..."

The first is far from done. Parents are generally not comfortable talking about this stuff, and not just Thai parents. It's being done in some schools with Lifeskills classes, but not enough schools. And the kids who are most vulnerable are the kids who are not in school. Reaching them is harder and requires more resources, but it's doable and they are the ones most at risk.

"But how will they include such campaign on TV an issue as controversial as this one, when it is inextricably tied with infidelity, prositution and the like... Given the reserved nature of Thai people a campaign of this sort would be perceived to be innapropriate and offensive. and very understandably too... "

This doesn't need to be done with a TV campaign like the one about drunk driving. One of the most successful ways to handle something like this on TV is with "edutainment."

A great example of this is Soul City on South African television. Essentially a soap opera, it had a character with HIV. Also The Bold and the Beautiful tackled this with an HIV positive character. These things definitely help, but it takes more than that.

It takes a wide range of approaches, programs and services to reach the most vulnerable groups. But it only costs about 4% of the national health care budget to get to them and most of the rest of the population, so the resources are there.

What's lacking is political will.

I guess the sex workers, injecting drug users and men having sex with men are not big Thai Rak Thai supporters. Remember, Mechai said that Thaksin did not keep one promise when it came to fighting AIDS. Not one.

I read from somewhere that most prostitution is between thai and thai anyway, so to blame only foreigners about prostitution and HIV is not fair and will not help us solve the problem.