Thai Teens Having Sex Earlier Than Californians

[george]

Thai teens having sex earlier than Californians

BANGKOK: -- Thai teens are having sex a year earlier than their counterparts in swinging California and a lot fewer are using condoms, a survey of the two teen populations revealed Wednesday, Valentine's Day.

According to a study recently published in the journal of the Royal College of Paediatricians of Thailand on teen sexual behaviour in Thailand and California, the average age for Thai teens to start having sex was 16 compared with 17 for Californians, said The Nation newspaper.

Other revelations called disturbing were that while the rate of condom use among Californian teens was 58 percent it was only 23 percent among Thais.

Not surprisingly, Thais have a much higher number of teenage pregnancies at 90 per thousand, compared with California's 50 per thousand, while the number of HIV-positive teens in Thailand was 60,000 compared with only 4,000 in California.

Both California and Thailand have similar teen populations of about 7 to 8 million.

Suriyadeo Tripathi, chief author of the study, said that unlike California, Thailand has failed to follow practical measures to deal with risky sexual behaviour among teens such as sexual education and safe-sex campaigns.

"It's time for Thailand to take action," Suriyadeo told a seminar Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Bangkok Metropolitan Police Wednesday launched a "four dont's" campaign to prevent teen girls from having unsafe sex on Valentine's Day.

The Four Don'ts, which were to be communicated to young girls here Wednesday, included "Don't leave an opportunity, Don't expose your stuff, Don't give a green light and Don't disregard prevention."

-- DPA 2007-02-14

[esprit]

Maybe Californians are just a bunch of W**kers !

[farangsay]

Well I initially rejected the urge to make a stupid

post in this thread but seeing as the ice has been

broken.

Thai teens having sex earlier than Californian teens.

Hellooo

Time zones ?

[esprit]

Just checked the net and it appears that whilst Thai teenagers may start having consensual sex at 16 this is 1 year on from the legal age whilst in Calafornication the legal age appears to be 18 thus they are effectively criminally bonking their brains out. Can others confirm these ages are correct and hence Thais are more law abiding - according to the survey ?

[pampal]

Just checked the net and it appears that whilst Thai teenagers may start having consensual sex at 16 this is 1 year on from the legal age whilst in Calafornication the legal age appears to be 18 thus they are effectively criminally bonking their brains out. Can others confirm these ages are correct and hence Thais are more law abiding - according to the survey ?

In california, if both parties having sex are under 18, no laws are being

broken. But if one of the parties is over 18, then it's statutory rape.

[Scott]

I fail to understand the point of the article. Teenagers have always been having sex and probably always will. When? The first chance they get. So the comparisons aren't really very relevant.

Things like condom use, the number of sexual partners, length of relationships and other circumstances maybe more telling than the age.

[peter991]

Source:

"The age of consent in Thailand is 15 (with the below caveat) as specified by article 279 of the Thai Criminal Code. The current legislation applies to both men and women, although it is a common misconception that it applies only to women.

However parts of the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act which disallow any sexual contact with prostitutes under the age of 18, are widely interpreted by some local authorities to cover sexual acts classed as "obscenity for personal gratification". This ostensibly makes the Thai unfettered age of consent 18.

A high profile example of this application of the law was a statutory rape charge filed against the lead singer of the Thai band Big Ass for allegedly having had sex with a (then) 16 year old girl (the singer has since been cleared of these charges due to the results of a paternity test)."

Just as well they are not in Saudi Arabia:

"In Saudi Arabia extramarital sex is illegal (adultery). Homosexual marriage is not legal and homosexual sexual acts may be punishable. The traditional penalty for adultery is stoning to death for married people (or those in a legal concubinage) and 100 lashes plus banishment for unmarried people."

Peter

[richard10365]

I wonder if their report was based on only hetrosexual activity. Many kids don't consider it having sex if it is with the same sex. They should redo their test and include homosexuality in their test results as well.

Edited February 16, 2007 by richard10365

[Scott]

I wonder if their report was based on only hetrosexual activity. Many kids don't consider it having sex if it is with the same sex. They should redo their test and include homosexuality in their test results as well.

I am pretty sure that the California test would include homosexual relations, but if anyone knows who conducted the study, it might be wise if they post it. I very much doubt that Thailand would include it since in general gay sex doesn't really count--that's just "playing" with your friend.

[kmart]

I don't blame them. Firstly, there is not a great amount of input given into stimulating other areas of their bodies or brains. Moronic tv; films; pop songs. - Rote education at school; no public parks or other land given over to sports or pastimes, (unless your parents are wealthy). Seems like hanging around shopping malls and playing internet games are top hobbies for kids.

The kids here are always made scapegoats for the stupidity, immorality, and short-sightedness of the state. They are taught not to think or challenge authority, and yet are chastised for base behaviour?

Perhaps its time they deserved a bit better?

[pedro01]

bloody obvious really. California is 16 hours behind Thailand. We do EVERYTHING earlier here....

[thedude]

the thai authorities have been trying to stop teenagers from having sex this valentines by getting police to enforce a sort of curfew on teenagers in public areas after 10 pm.

CNN interviewed Dr Mechai about this and he said the police should be handing out condoms instead to these teenagers. "we can call it the Cops and Rubbers program!" Dr Mechai said.

but its true, i really dont see how denial and deterance can serve to control the spread of HIV. the authorities see it as a moral issue, whereas fighting the spread of HIV requires an approach grounded in reality. teenagers are going to have sex, just give them condoms and teach them to be safe.

[richard10365]

Thai teens having sex earlier than Californians

the number of HIV-positive teens in Thailand was 60,000 compared with only 4,000 in California.

In California, the government teaches the children about the dangers of unsafe sex and how to have safe sex if that is what they choose to do.

In Thailand, they just say don't do it. Don't be like the bad westerners. It's not our heritage.........oh yea....where is my mia noi?

[astral]

I am not sure there is really anything new in this topic of "news".

Perhaps "Suriyadeo Tripathi, chief author of the study" has forgotten his own youth,

or lead a very sheltered life.

[Jimjim]

I actually think it's quite insightful and surprising. I would think American teenagers would be having sex far before Thai teenagers. Guess I'm wrong. Also, I would think the ages would be more around 14 and 15, as I always seem to remember seeing in the yearly comprehensive worldwide sex studies in articles before. Perhaps this isn't a comprehensive study.

[sunreader]

Girls..."Don't expose your stuff"....

shouldn't that be "muff"?

[drummer]

Hardly new, and hardly surprising.

This http://www.afa.org.sg/issue/issue27/13.htm/b] is a great article written by Thais that compares and contrasts education and results. It starts off like this

Sanitsuda Ekacha

Bangkok Post 14/08/02

Thai parents have always frowned on premarital sex, and yet their message is falling on deaf ears. Why are Thai teens doing it sooner than their peers in the West?"

The long and the short of it: (pun intented, of course)

Education works, demogogy doesn't. Saying "Just say no" just doesn't work. What does work is telling teens, adults, and whomever else what the facts are. They are perfectly capable of choosing for themselves. This is not just true for sex, but also drugs and Rock'n Roll as well. Good decisions are inversely porportional to dogma.

Apprantly, the freer a country is with information, and the fewer taboos, the healthier the sex is. The later the average age of sex, the higher the condom + prophylactic use.

Unfortunately, Thailand warns you about the dangers of spaghetti straps instead of the dangers of AIDS.

[wintermute]

the thai authorities have been trying to stop teenagers from having sex this valentines by getting police to enforce a sort of curfew on teenagers in public areas after 10 pm.

Oh no I guess the thai teens will have to adjourn their date and get down to business earlier than planned. Sometimes I wonder what they are thinking when they come up with these "solutions." This definitely tops the alcohol ad ban as the most retarded idea ever. It cracks me up to imagine some wisened big hair thai minister furrowing his brow brainstorming solutions to keep Porn and Somchai from copulating. Meanwhile his assistants probably all think his idea is as stupid as buffalo sh*t but are afraid to say otherwise because he's the big pooyai of the group.

[kmart]

the thai authorities have been trying to stop teenagers from having sex this valentines by getting police to enforce a sort of curfew on teenagers in public areas after 10 pm.

Oh no I guess the thai teens will have to adjourn their date and get down to business earlier than planned. Sometimes I wonder what they are thinking when they come up with these "solutions." This definitely tops the alcohol ad ban as the most retarded idea ever. It cracks me up to imagine some wisened big hair thai minister furrowing his brow brainstorming solutions to keep Porn and Somchai from copulating. Meanwhile his assistants probably all think his idea is as stupid as buffalo sh*t but are afraid to say otherwise because he's the big pooyai of the group.

Spot on. The dysfunctionality of this "pooyai" system beggars belief. For all their talk of ethics; morals, and supposed conservative outlook, most Thais would wai Satan, if he stepped out of a black Mercedes in front of them.

[somtaamgaiyang]

I actually think it's quite insightful and surprising. I would think American teenagers would be having sex far before Thai teenagers. Guess I'm wrong. Also, I would think the ages would be more around 14 and 15, as I always seem to remember seeing in the yearly comprehensive worldwide sex studies in articles before. Perhaps this isn't a comprehensive study.

Isn't it true the world over that most kids begin having sex at somewhere between 15 and 17 years of age. The real issues here is whether they are using condoms and teenage pregnancy and STD rates are the vital issue.

To tell kids abstain is all very well and good, but since hormones are raging at that time, very few listen and what is important is whether they are educated enough for firstly the girl to be able to say "no" (highly unlikely in Thailand in comparison with the west), then insist on using a condom (even less likely in Thailand than in the west).

So the overall ages (15 to 18) are not that relevant if one considers there will always be outliers in a statistical analysis which are what create the headlines. Teenagers have been having sex since time immemorial, and all the laws under the sun won't stop it. What is important is that it is not carried out forcefully (teenage rape, of which there are numerous reports every year in Thailand) and that the kids are educated enough to protect themselves.

[HenryB]

Maybe Californians are just a bunch of W**kers !

My brother lives in North California and he wrote me to inform me that the teenagers there are very upset and are taking a pledge to have more sex so they will be number one you known those Americans Having lived in the land of England I can say the Englsih are the biggest bunch of W**kers kept up W**kers.

[mayacan]

I'm surprised at the "average" age is 16 years and 17 years....As a native Californian, and high school teacher, by the time kids get to high school, at least 50% have had a sexual encounter. And as noted in earlier posts, kids have always had sex. Sure society seems to be exposing sex through the media, music, ect... So no wonder that kids may be having sex at an earlier age. Thailand is fastly becoming more and more westernized, and so the youth there are also being exposed to sexual attitudes from the west.....The best thing a country can do is to educate their youth, because sex is natural, and because it is so prevalent in our culture today.

[kmart]

Maybe Californians are just a bunch of W**kers !

My brother lives in North California and he wrote me to inform me that the teenagers there are very upset and are taking a pledge to have more sex so they will be number one you known those Americans Having lived in the land of England I can say the Englsih are the biggest bunch of W**kers kept up W**kers.

Thanks for your input, Henry. Whatever you're on about....

[mark lamai]

doing it earlier?

you mean they do it before breakfast?