Thailand still IN DENIAL over teenage sex

[BuaBS]

What about the constant bombardement/propaganda on TV & in movies , of how it is so joyfull to have babies , that having kids is natural and the way to go , and living without it , is not fulfilling & selfish.

How about telling the truth , that having babies ruins womens bodies , ruins you career , future & finances.

And then the big question : what about aborting ?? Ok , you have an "accident" with unprotected sex : offer free abortion for under 21 year olds.

[Halion]

It is indeed a multi faceted problem and cultural influences are another.

Young Thais have little or no sense of accountability or responsibility as it is not taught either at home or in school.

Nature provides them with the means at a very young age long before their education and understanding can kick in.

Young Thais brag to their friend about getting a girl pregnant. Young Thai women feel that pregnancy makes them a woman with little thought that it will probably be grandma in Nakhon Nowhere that has to look after the results of the moment of stupidity and the cycle continues.

It will not, and can not be abated until the puerile social culture of this country is seriously overhauled and people are made fully responsible for their action or inaction and the level of education needs a quantum leap from its current form.

[soalbundy]

Blame the proliferations of the many social media outlet that leaves very little for imaginations

boasting how easy and meaningless it is, and that if you're not in it, you're not cool...

morality has lost it's values long time ago, lust and greed and I want it now societies are

in vogue now.. not to mentions that the young's are maturing much quicker now days, and

so their sexual urges... no way, no government can put a stop to young people engaging

in unprotected sex....

Blame social media? Still trying to understand ifthis is a joke.

How about "oh the internet has gone off"..." better have a shag then"

As much as I hate to agree with ezzra, he is correct this time.

When I studied marketing a million years ago, the first thing we were emphatically taught was...............SEX SELLS.

The kids are victims of the adults. Try McDonalds on for size.

666.

I only read this post because sex was in the title, how about you?

I haven't had teenage sex since i retired

[fred Kubasa]

So, their goal is to take 2 years, ( two years), to reduce teen pregnancies by 1/3rd of 1 % ?

Actually most Thais welcome so called "unwanted pregnancies" and see it as an earning

opportunity -- sending their teen daughters out to work and support thousands 0f Grandmas/grandpas

thru out Thailand. How many readers know a Thai girl, from Issan, with NO children, and a working

husband ?

[abitmiffed]

This is all nonsense. Teenage pregnancies have been the norm in Thailand always, and with the sinking fertility rate (I believe it's around 1.6 nowadays), due to the fact that educated city women get few or no kids, these pregnant girls are also important to keep the population at sustainable levels. It would of course be nice if all those teenagers would wait till after they finished their education before getting children, but with the education level in Thailand, it's hard to see how that would help them. Then one could claim that as they get older, they would become more mature and more suited to take care of children, but in my experience, that is not necessarily the case in this country. Adults and grandmothers are just as guilty when it comes to failed parenting, not to speak about malnutrition, here.

Fix the education system first, and include a few lessons in parenting and nutrition too, then start to worry about the age of the mothers.

"Getting children"? Where does one get a child from these days, lotus?

[zakk9]

This is all nonsense. Teenage pregnancies have been the norm in Thailand always, and with the sinking fertility rate (I believe it's around 1.6 nowadays), due to the fact that educated city women get few or no kids, these pregnant girls are also important to keep the population at sustainable levels. It would of course be nice if all those teenagers would wait till after they finished their education before getting children, but with the education level in Thailand, it's hard to see how that would help them. Then one could claim that as they get older, they would become more mature and more suited to take care of children, but in my experience, that is not necessarily the case in this country. Adults and grandmothers are just as guilty when it comes to failed parenting, not to speak about malnutrition, here.

Fix the education system first, and include a few lessons in parenting and nutrition too, then start to worry about the age of the mothers.

"Getting children"? Where does one get a child from these days, lotus?

At karaoke bars probably. Sorry for my abysmal English. Dysfunctional brain.

[SiSePuede419]

"So this piques the sex drive at a younger age"

<deleted>. Have you ever seen the traditional Thai house? It's all one big room. There's no privacy.

You think Thai kids didn't wake up when their parents had sex at night, 555?

[laobali]

Another article from this rag written by a wannabe English cub reporter using a 3 year old statistic.

[BlackJack]

condom vending machine in each school

dispensing FREE condoms

[gandalf12]

Now that Ministry has taken lead, we can expect progress? Hahaha... oh my side is splitting!

In a few months we can expect stats proving ' success '.

No you cant, they are being issued next week

[English 1]

Don't forget all the underage who use Cha Rooms to meet older guys for money.

[Nobb]

With out sex education the young girls who think the man in Thailand loves her she will not care about protection. I will not discharge in you i promise. The only greater lie is that the check is in the mail. With out sex education these poor young ladies are at the mans honesty but some times in a heated moment honesty is not under your control!

[Strangebrew]

Maybe if they stop giving home work on sex education that might put a dent in problem I know as stated it is a hard nut to crack but it seems some teens seem to be cracking that nut.

[Strangebrew]

Wait a second I may have solved the problem and everyone is happy lower age of consent and tell those teenage girls to ask the retired Expats and older Thai men, well maybe the older expats show them the joys of sex most of the old farts shoot blanks anyway no harm no foul. I know it sounds sick but your not going to stop hormones and horny boys.

[Jenny Adara]

For a start condoms should be available in all toilets via vending machines - and stop putting them right next to the door in Seven elevens where the entire staff and everyone queing up can make Thai people too shy to buy without getting snubbed by the girls behind the counter. Just those 2 simple acts of common sense will probably half the problem instantly.
FACT - boys are shy to buy condoms

FACT - thai boys are 10 time more shy than westerners to buy condoms..

[godden]

Not guilty, honest.

[maidee]

just like everything in this country

pretend it does not excist and the consequences are NEVER for the boys anyway...

even fathers don't contribute near to nothing to their kids ...

money is there to be spend now, today, have sanuk, some gambling & girls

the poor pregnant girl can just drop the kid at grandma's and than she can try to go learn to earn a living in pattaya / phuket

[PEAP]

For a start condoms should be available in all toilets via vending machines - and stop putting them right next to the door in Seven elevens where the entire staff and everyone queing up can make Thai people too shy to buy without getting snubbed by the girls behind the counter. Just those 2 simple acts of common sense will probably half the problem instantly.

FACT - boys are shy to buy condoms

FACT - thai boys are 10 time more shy than westerners to buy condoms..

[/quo

Jenny, Many places to "Buy" condoms. But as you state the culture prevents the Boy OR Girl to purchase and carry "just-in-case". Many stories in the villages of plastic bags being accepted by both parties as a substitute. Can't get into trouble with mum if she finds a plastic bag in a pocket or purse. Problem is the quality is doubtful.

[glasswort]

Hello and welcome to the 21st century.

This is happening worldwide and not just with Thailand. There are multiple factors at play here, culture, religion, education and hormones and the internet, to name just a few.

In terms of Thailand - this is a primarily Buddhist culture, so there's very little in terms of a proper moral compass, pointing the direction clearly in terms of relationships and moral ethic within relationships. This cannot be denied - since it is a well documented and evident fact that sexual immorality is rife within Thai culture, and not just with the unmarried.

This is not to take a religious bent on the issue - but it is a determining factor.

Therefore, there is not teaching that perhaps sex is something to be kept for marriage.

20 years ago, younger Thai girls of the middle class, were far less likely to have pre-marital sex, but that is changing rapidly with the current generation.

Sex is everywhere, and I'm not talking about P4P - I'm talking advertising and media as well as the internet.

The internet has to be brought into the equation, because now everyone has a smart phone at least, and everyone is looking at porn blogs and sexting etc etc and there is far more privacy for teens to engage in stimulation of either a textual or visual nature.

So this piques the sex drive at a younger age, and kids being kids, will always be fascinated and turned on by this.

Personally - I believe there is no real solution to this, because as we know, Thai culture and those in control of government policies and legislation are so terrifically blind, that they just cannot see that basic things like promoting safe sex by installing condom vending machines as a basic, is of course, a logical starting point.

The tidal wave of thought that it would be wrong to teach that sex in a married relationship is the best idea, has long washed away a more tradition moral standpoint, and thus, we are left with this result.

The murky area of age of consent etc, makes things more complicated, and the highly sexualised Thai culture with every conceivable sexuality under the sun thriving here, means you are tackling one of the biggest beasts of this country, and I for one believe it's like going to war with a mammoth, with our wielding only a paper sword as a weapon.

In this case, you would have to change the mindset of adult to actual give a fig about their kids, there would have to be proper sex education taught across the board, and you would have to change the mindset of the establishment.

Considering the fact that many older men have teenage giks, etc, I think it's highly unlikely that any real effort will be put into this, because privately and behind closed doors, they are probably quite happy that everyone is rutting.

.......everyone has a smart phone at least, Nonsense, do not make ridiculous statements that you cannot back up. Not everyone has a smart phone.

[Mudcrab]

I think teenage sex has been around for a couple of million years. I know my parents never had sex but I am sure teenage sex was going on in their youth. Just not with my parents. Only commenting on the headline.

Teenage sex proliferates in every country where there is poverty and under educated people. There has to be a concerted effort by the government to inform, and educate both parents and teenagers.

So you are the product of divine intervention?

[trogers]

Just got news from Isan:

Boy 16 fathers two kids already. Both mothers are 15. None of them finished school, none of them have a job, all of them relying on "grandma's" money who works as erection assistant for an old farrang.

I'm sure all of them feel the "happiness" brought to them by the fact that the Public Health Ministry has acknowledged this is a major problem.

And the vicious cycle repeats. You made no mention of parents of this boy.

[Jonmarleesco]

'Earlier this year a ministry plan to install condom-vending machines in secondary schools and vocational colleges had to be scrapped after the National Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) rejected the idea. Obec didn't see it as a solution, apparently preferring to believe that teenagers shun sex.' Possibly. But many people, I suspect, and rightly, saw it as an invitation; and one that ignored parents' views. What sort of reaction does the PHM - and for that matter, the Nation - think condom machines will engender in teens? Oh, look, just in case? Yeah, right.

[Just1Voice]

Hello and welcome to the 21st century.

This is happening worldwide and not just with Thailand. There are multiple factors at play here, culture, religion, education and hormones and the internet, to name just a few.

In terms of Thailand - this is a primarily Buddhist culture, so there's very little in terms of a proper moral compass, pointing the direction clearly in terms of relationships and moral ethic within relationships. This cannot be denied - since it is a well documented and evident fact that sexual immorality is rife within Thai culture, and not just with the unmarried.

This is not to take a religious bent on the issue - but it is a determining factor.

Therefore, there is not teaching that perhaps sex is something to be kept for marriage.

20 years ago, younger Thai girls of the middle class, were far less likely to have pre-marital sex, but that is changing rapidly with the current generation.

Sex is everywhere, and I'm not talking about P4P - I'm talking advertising and media as well as the internet.

The internet has to be brought into the equation, because now everyone has a smart phone at least, and everyone is looking at porn blogs and sexting etc etc and there is far more privacy for teens to engage in stimulation of either a textual or visual nature.

So this piques the sex drive at a younger age, and kids being kids, will always be fascinated and turned on by this.

Personally - I believe there is no real solution to this, because as we know, Thai culture and those in control of government policies and legislation are so terrifically blind, that they just cannot see that basic things like promoting safe sex by installing condom vending machines as a basic, is of course, a logical starting point.

The tidal wave of thought that it would be wrong to teach that sex in a married relationship is the best idea, has long washed away a more tradition moral standpoint, and thus, we are left with this result.

The murky area of age of consent etc, makes things more complicated, and the highly sexualised Thai culture with every conceivable sexuality under the sun thriving here, means you are tackling one of the biggest beasts of this country, and I for one believe it's like going to war with a mammoth, with our wielding only a paper sword as a weapon.

In this case, you would have to change the mindset of adult to actual give a fig about their kids, there would have to be proper sex education taught across the board, and you would have to change the mindset of the establishment.

Considering the fact that many older men have teenage giks, etc, I think it's highly unlikely that any real effort will be put into this, because privately and behind closed doors, they are probably quite happy that everyone is rutting.

.......everyone has a smart phone at least, Nonsense, do not make ridiculous statements that you cannot back up. Not everyone has a smart phone.

+1 I don't have one. Don't need one. Don't want one.

[quandow]

"Thailand still IN DENIAL over teenage sex"

No we're not!

[Mister Fixit]

I remember teaching for a few weeks 8 kms outside Khampaeng Phet a few years ago. I stayed in a crappy little 'resort' the first night and the following morning as I went out to return my key and get my bags I saw two 14-15 year old girls standing at the entrance. I assumed they were waiting for friends or a lift to school and thought no more of it.

However, as I went back to my bungalow to get my bags 5 minutes later, I saw the next bungalow had two pairs of girls shoes left outside! Then two young lads about the same age as the girls arrived on a motorbike which they parked round the back and walked past me looking shifty. They went straight into the bungalow and then there was a lot of giggling and creaking ...

You'll never stop a teenager having a bit of how's yer father in any country and certainly not in Thailand ...

[Acharn]

Blame the proliferations of the many social media outlet that leaves very little for imaginations

boasting how easy and meaningless it is, and that if you're not in it, you're not cool...

morality has lost it's values long time ago, lust and greed and I want it now societies are

in vogue now.. not to mentions that the young's are maturing much quicker now days, and

so their sexual urges... no way, no government can put a stop to young people engaging

in unprotected sex....

I think it's mostly the pearl-clutching hi-so ladies who are averse to talking about the situation, probably having picked it up from American and English puritans who think that if you don't talk about sex it doesn't happen. Quite a few years ago I learned the Thai words for "birth control" from reading an advertisement on on of the old busses I had to ride to get to work. There were also ads about not patronizing child prostitutes, so it was probably about 1998 or whenever that law went into effect. Anyway, from what I've seen the kids have an idea what sex is about and are impatient to grow up so they can enjoy it like their older brothers and sisters. No, the problem has been that Thai kids, like many American kids, have to get their sex education from porn, which doesn't stress safe sex much. Teach the kids about birth control and STDs and make condoms even more freely available than they are now(ever notice how they're displayed right by the cash registers in 7-11s?). Young men try to resist using them, but we might be able to get a little cooperation if they start showing some of the anti-VD films we used to see in the Army. The idea of teen clinics in government hospitals is probably good, but the bluenoses will try to censor the information. By the way, I'm pretty sure Thai morality is no worse now than it was under Field Marshals Sarit or Thanom.

[hookedondhamma]

How about free or heavily subsidised condoms for starters? This would also help reduce the huge rubber stockpile that the Government has on its hands.

Latex is cheap, but teflon is expensive.

Clever, trogers :-)

Education would help, but wouldn't be the 'end all'.

Look around and take a listen - marketing is powerful - there are sexual messages everywhere, mostly in the music but 'disguised' as some sort of innuendo. The obvious 'itchy ear' song complete with moans, the 'liver' song which has an accompanying dance (thrusting), the 'yok sot' song, etc.

The soap operas, etc.

Love is a big thing here. So is the 'bone & run' but that's pretty common everywhere. Their being thai has nothing to do with it - they're young and want to bump uglies.

[Godders]

Article 44 req'd, that'll stop the buggers fornicating ;-)

. . . and not just the buggers.

[Godders]

When I took my one of my daughters for a chicken pox vaccination at a leading private hospital in Hua Hin recently, the elderly physician suggested I bring her back in 12 months for a second injection - to protect her from a cancer-causing virus transmitted exclusively by sexual intercourse.

My daughter has just turned eight.

So much for sex education Thai style.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Godders

[HooHaa]

Blame the proliferations of the many social media outlet that leaves very little for imaginations

boasting how easy and meaningless it is, and that if you're not in it, you're not cool...

morality has lost it's values long time ago, lust and greed and I want it now societies are

in vogue now.. not to mentions that the young's are maturing much quicker now days, and

so their sexual urges... no way, no government can put a stop to young people engaging

in unprotected sex....

spoken like an old man. dont blame educate. Use social media to do it

I lost my virginity at 14 (30 odd years ago) and i certainly wasn't alone among my peers on that count.

some old codger rant about loss of values achieves nothing. in fact this mindset is exactly the denial the article is railing against.

yes mores evolve, remember the puritans? they seem pretty silly now dont they?