Thailand To Raise AIDS Awareness

[Jai Dee]

Thailand to raise awareness with record attempt for world's longest condom

BANGKOK, Thailand: Thailand planned to mark World AIDS Day on Friday by setting a record for the "Longest Condom Chain," a ribbon of 25,000 condoms intended to raise awareness to fight the disease.

More than 1,000 activists and other participants were expected to participate in the event, scheduled for Friday evening in Bangkok's Lumpini Park, according to UNESCO, the U.N. cultural body that was organizing the event with a number of Thai non-governmental agencies.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of activists from NGOs marched in a parade through downtown Bangkok that included people dressed as condoms.

For the record attempt, the condoms were to be arranged, side-by-side on a ribbon placed on the ground and then measured both by hand and using a satellite photo, said UNESCO spokeswoman Johanna Rogers. She added that the record bid was unlikely to fail since there is no current entry for the "Longest Condom Chain" in the Guinness World Record book.

Thailand has long been considered a model in the fight against AIDS and has made great gains in reducing the number of new infections through strongly promoting condom use among prostitutes in Thailand's rampant sex industry.

But officials warn that the epidemic has started to shift, with HIV cases rising among male homosexuals, young people having casual sex, injecting drug users, and monogamous housewives whose husbands bring the disease home.

The agency UNAIDS estimates some 570,000 people are living with the virus in Thailand, about a third of them women.

AIDS peaked in Thailand in 1991 with about 143,000 new annual cases, a figure that has since dropped more than 80 percent.

In 2006, some 15,000 people contracted the disease, said Praj Boonyarowong, the Health Ministry's permanent secretary.

Source: Associated Press - 1 December 2006

[astral]

I assume a large condom, means there is a large prick around somewhere?

Seriously, this is an important matter, but I am not sure that events like this really help,

and the statistics........................

In 2006, some 15,000 people contracted the disease, said Praj Boonyarowong, the Health Ministry's permanent secretary.

Does he mean people diagnosed as HIV+ ?

What about those who have not yet been tested?

[Scott]

Two records: Longest condom, shortest pen*s!

[britmaveric]

I'm sure it will still be small by western standards!!!