Pattaya and Chonburi
public-health officials offer health checks twice monthly to bar workers
and distribute free condoms to tourists.\
Vittaya Yoondorn
Pattaya and Chonburi public-health officials hope to improve efforts
to prevent HIV and AIDS by cross-checking health records, distributing
more condoms and better educating workers in Pattaya’s red light
district.
At a Feb. 6 meeting of city and provincial health officials and AIDS
volunteer groups, Anya Janthrakas, the head of Pattaya’s
transmittable-disease control office, said medical reports made by area
hospitals and clinics need to be shared by all agencies and institutions
battling AIDS in the Pattaya area.
Attendees at the city hall session called for a
larger supply of condoms to be distributed to tourists and Thai bar
workers, and outlined budget requests to fund efforts to educate
“independent female (and male) employees” working everywhere from dark
alleys to go-go bars to massage parlors.
Anya said the city offers health checks twice monthly to bar workers and
distributes free condoms to tourists. Other teams visit gay bars,
massage parlors and other areas to educate workers on the risks of HIV
and how to avoid contracting it.
Another “emergency team,” she said, provides information on various
diseases and preventative methods to target streetwalkers.
