Here comes another non evidence-based, cart before the wheel and populist example of dealing with a problem in a society that has jumped from pre-industrial era into the world-wide-web frenzy.
The Nation reports that Chalerm Yoobamrung, Thailand Public Health Minister is urging the Information Technology and Computer (ICT) ministry, which already censored quite a few websites, to close down websites that sell abortion drugs online.
Chalerm has a point when he says that anti-abortion drugs bought online can be harmful for women. But his underlying assumption that availability of abortion-drugs could lead …

Thailand is a deeply conservative society where extra marital sex and sex amongst men is common, known, not as socially accepted as many Western observers would like to think and certainly rarely talked about in public.
Despite a praised and recognized success in fighting a growing heterosexual HIV epidemics in the 90s. Thailand has failed to recognise and address the growing HIV epidemic amongst Men who have Sex with Men (MSM). The most recent survey conducted in MSM venues in Bangkok in 2005 returned a prevalence of more than 28% amongst …

The Mayor of Pattaya (Thailand) has had enough of its bad reputation of “Sin City” and has embarked on (another) cleaning campaign to “eradicate the prolific gangs of teenagers who sell sexual services, amongst whom there is a high illegal drug usage” according to the Pattaya Daily News.
But Mayor Itthipol Khun-plue and Pol. Col. Nopadol Wongnom, Pattaya Superintendent failed to round-up any law-breakers in the 50 and more gay beer bars they raided. Indeed they failed to find any under 20 years-old that would happen to be an illegal sex …

Photo Credit: supernovapro @ Flick

To prove that condoms don’t work, pro-life & anti condoms organisations such as The Illinois Family Institute often cite the case of two Asian countries with almost equal populations: Thailand (pop. 63,753,000) and the Philippines (pop. 88,351,000) and what they call “facts” about the two countries. It reads like that,
“Both countries saw their first cases of AIDS appear in 1984. Both embarked on campaigns to combat the threat and spread of this deadly disease. That’s where the similarity ends. The Philippine government educated its people and …

Hong Nam Katoye
(Toilets for Katoye)

Matt, Bangkok Lost Boy and fellow blogger, posted on the recently introduced toilets for Katoye in Thailand. I specifically use the Thai word as there is no satisfactory translation in English or other western languages. Transvestite, transsexual, third sex can never encompass the real nature and complexity of the Thai Katoye, especially for outsiders as Matt’s writes:
“It’s difficult for an outsider to really comprehend because there is some conflict between whether ladyboys should be viewed as women or a third sex.”
Matt’s post is interesting because …