Finnish sex tourists get HIV?

[wowpow]

Finns told to keep sex safe on holiday
Bangkok Post
APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL

The Public Health Ministry and an anti-Aids campaigner yesterday criticised a remark by a Finnish official blaming Thailand for an increase in HIV cases in his country, saying the rise reflected the lack of safe sex measures among Finnish holidaymakers. ''It's a must for tourists to protect themselves from HIV/Aids wherever they are,'' said Disease Control Department chief Thawat Sundarajarn. ''We can't put every single holidaymaker under surveillance if their main purpose of coming to Thailand is sex tourism.''

In response to a report on the rising HIV/Aids problem in Finland, Dr Thawat questioned whether the Finnish Health Ministry, which published the report, had put any emphasis on action to deal with HIV/Aids transmission, particularly in risk groups.

A Finnish Health Ministry report quoted by the AFP news agency said the Scandinavian country expected to have more than 100 new HIV cases before the end of 2006, compared with 53 in 2001. The ministry's adviser, Merja Saarinen, said the Finns had contracted the disease abroad, particularly in Thailand, their favourite holiday destination.

Dr Thawat said it was essential that each country educated its people about HIV/Aids prevention. However, it depended more on individuals, if they were really concerned about the Aids problem, to practise safe sex. he added.

Since the early 1990s, Thailand has been running campaigns against HIV/Aids in the commercial sex sector by promoting 100% condom use in brothels and by independent sex workers. Mechai Veravaidya, director of the Population and Community Development Association, criticised the Finnish adviser for putting the blame on Thailand and challenged the official to produce concrete evidence to support the allegations. ''Don't be so silly. Be realistic,'' he said.

Mr Mechai, known as Mr Condom for his successful family planning and Aids prevention campaigns through promotion of condom use, said he was wondering if the tourists in question had their blood tested before visiting Thailand. He also urged foreign tourists not to come to Thailand for sex services. However, Mr Mechai also expressed concern about the weak Aids prevention strategy during the past three years. Recent figures showed only 90% of sex workers used condoms. The government should review anti-Aids campaigns and sex education, which should also target teenagers, married women and young adults, since they are indirectly at risk of contracting HIV/Aids from their sex partners, he said.

Public Health Ministry spokesman Sutham Srithamma said the authorities were looking for funds from international sources to run Aids prevention projects for teenagers and young adults as the local budget had been slashed.

There were about 800,000 HIV cases in Thailand. Of these, over 17,000 were found last year and considered new cases.

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[marc11864-old]

I have to ask... why again was this ever considered news?

I have to ask... why again was this ever considered news?

Considered by whom? The newspaper? Or by TeePee? If the latter I've always assumed that, just as drag acts are occupational therapy for transvestites, cut'n'paste is occupational therapy for Wowpow/TeePee. I'm still chuckling from his own-goal in another thread, quoting alleged best practice for Forum posts, where one of the ten commandments is "no cut'n'paste"

For those of us not in Thailand, I appreciate his cut and paste articles. If you don't like it, move onto the next thread. I, for one, appreciate your efforts TeePee.

[bao-bao]

Call me crazy (preferably not in PMs or all at once) but I'd interpret the "don't cut and paste" edict as "don't copy something and infer it's yours" or "don't copy something from another web board and put it here as something original"... which we've seen more than a few times.

TeePee, sometimes there are just too many to read through, but despite my Google news alert requests for Thailand and Thai Travel I still find interesting things in your posts as well. You don't plagiarize; you give credit (unlike some).

My vote is keep posting. Let those who don't want to read them skip over them.

Oddly enough if I quote the whole of War & Peace and then acknowledge Leo Tolstoy wrote it, I'm still in breach of copyright (asuming that hasn't expired). Acknowlegement does not mitigate the breach

[bao-bao]

Oddly enough if I quote the whole of War & Peace and then acknowledge Leo Tolstoy wrote it, I'm still in breach of copyright (asuming that hasn't expired). Acknowlegement does not mitigate the breach

That's very true, homintern. I'm a little embarassed that I didn't remember that. However, I seriously doubt that there'd be anything more than a request to delete the post from the original sources even if they did learn it was here since this isn't really a "for profit" site. If SGT was re-selling it via membership or some such thing it'd certainly be a problem, if caught.

War and Peace would be a bit shorter than some of LMTU's posts, though! hee hee hee

Hey... I'm only JOKING here, LMTU! :colors:

... get their news unfiltered, here are the two major English language newspaper Web sites -
http://www.bangkokpost.net/
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

[marc11864-old]

Please don't misunderstand. My comment was directed towards the newspaper, not TeePee. And this was only because, personally I feel that the Finns need to take responsibility for their own actions and NOT try to slough them off on another culture.

Let's face it, regardless of if a certain culture does or does not encourage sex tourism, each individual in his or her own right has the ability to use condoms and protect themself from this virus.

Again, my comment was not in anyway directed to any members of this board.

As an aside, this constant sniping at each other is just so... lame and tacky. Can't some of you find something more interesting to do than to attack each other?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and in pretty much NO case that I have seen on the website within the past year has it ever been necessary to take pot shots at a person.

Grow up some of you. :confused5:

Cut and paste is boring. Can't peepee at least edit them a bit, so we get interesting quotes followed by some interesting peepee commentary? Or just some intersting peepee, followed by a link to the article.