kamui Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 HIV alarm sounded Published on September 10, 2005 The Nation About 20 per cent of female sex workers hanging around the Sanam Luang area recently tested positive for HIV, the Bangkok health department said yesterday. Dr Parnrudee Manomaipiboon said 115 women had volunteered to undergo the test during an annual check-up conducted from May 1 to June 15. Other Sanam Luang regulars with exposure to HIV/Aids ? including male sex workers, the homeless and drug addicts ? have not yet been tested, said Parnrudee, director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration?s Health Centre No 9. Earlier, Bangkok deputy governor Samart Ratchapolsitte called on men not to patronise sex workers around Sanam Luang, which has been closed off at night since August 25 when the city reinstated a ban on loitering. Thasong Asvasena The Nation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yfs Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Very alarming statistics at that. Keep in mind however, 86.5% of all statistics are made up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Hi, Hmm, interesting. My wife just told me 20% of all sex-workers is HIV. Wonder how it was presented on TV. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 The hookers at Sanam Luang -- actually mainly by the klong to the east of it -- are considered the lowest of the low. They are the ones patronised by tuk-tuk drivers, mo-cy taxi boys and assorted other labourers. Periodically, the city will try to clear them out of there, but the gals always return. The going rate is supposed to be something ridiculous, say 40 or 50 baht. I've seen some of them "setting up business" in the early evening. They make my landlord's mother-in-law look hot in comparison! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Sad...i thought things were getting better...guess not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 I take studies with a grain of salt, but there is one "study" I actually believe and is when the kings group patpong did an impromptu, forced testing a few years ago of every worker which would have been many hundred, maybe over a thousand as they account for most bars in pong. This was a believable and applicable test because it is a farang gogo area and the test was not for the purpose of statistics or hype--just a bar doing house cleaning. Despite having to prove regular testing, 9 came up positive. Most (6) were katoey from one bar alone, and all were immediately kicked out. The big boss was incredulous and said there was no excuse for it and the whole speil about you are using condoms right so how can this happen? For you, these are just statistics and numbers, but it didn't end there for me. I knew one of the 9 and she is dead now. Not only was it a big wakeup call, the most chilling part is none of her old friends at the bar cared. I was the only one there in her last days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thalenoi Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Not just sex workers, a thai couple who ran an internet/games shop a few km from my place where I used to spent some daily time both died from AIDS last year and a guy driving by on a chopper yesterday is HIV pos as the gf told me. No secrets in a small village. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 The north was hit hardest when Aids arrived in Thailand in the late '80s. The death toll in some northern villages was unbelievable. The reason was the old tradition that when a man went to a new town, he had to visit a brothel. And of course nobody used a condom. So when the men came home infected, they promptly gave it to their wife. Children were even being born HIV positive. Since then I'd thought folks had enough sense to use condoms, if they were still going to these cut rate knocking shops. But maybe not. On the other hand, the winner of one of the early Nanapong DCs was shocked when told by a Pattaya doc that she was HIV positive. The guys decided to bring her to Bangkok to a proper clinic (at Bamrungrad, I think). After serious testing, it turned out the gal had diabetes! Nothing to be happy about, but still a helluva lot better than having Aids. Some of the testing here is hardly of the best quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 Sorry to hear about your friend Neo. But it shows very well the 2 extremes of sex workers: desperate sanam luang hookers & relatively well informed farang oriented gogo girls. Life must go on. Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 Flash - I have heard the same, but given the difficulty of Female to male infection, I wonder on the use of drugs, very comon in the north, to help the spread! DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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