chapter 6. other concepts relating to sex - Windward Community ...

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about applying condoms, particularly to unmarried women, would have been inappropriate in most contexts. Now even fourth-graders have the language and understanding to describe the modes of transmission of HIV as well as how to prevent transmission. But there is evidence that people don't necessarily believe the scientific information and are still acting on previously held false notions. This is not surprising since Mahasarakham has so far had a lower rate of HIV infection and thus the people there have had less direct exposure to AIDS (UNESCAP, 2003). Some television programs have attempted to personalize the disease, make it less of something that happens to other people. An unusually candid segment of "People Tonight" on World AIDS Day 1994 featured a man with AIDS. The host interviewed both him and his parents and all were very frank about the young man's situation, discussing both health issues as well as the response by society to HIV and AIDS. Individuals living with HIV and AIDS rarely acknowledge their illness in public. Discrimination and fear of those with AIDS are still very strong despite the strong information campaign. Many SWU students, among the most educated in the country, also harbor these feelings: Although I think I will accept the people who have AIDS, but in fact I don't want to go to see and talk with them. Because I am fear I will have AIDS. [Daeng, 2 nd year female, journal entry] But scientifically correct information is creeping into their general knowledge and they are beginning to believe the data. Manisa, the student whose high school friend contracted HIV while working as a prostitute wrote, It has been the most fearful disease to me. In the past, I was afraid to go to the public toilets, to drink in the public places and tried to avoid people who had AIDS. When I was in high school, I have learned more about AIDS. I knew that AIDS could not transfer to others by touching or doing things together. The only way to transfer is from blood or sex. [journal entry] Students are quite knowledgeable about the basics of HIV and AIDS. They all know how it is transmitted (though some fear transmission through casual contact). They know how to 129
prevent transmission. And they know it is incurable. They have an excellent paper knowledge of AIDS, that is, all the facts given on paper. They don't, however, know how to implement that information in practice, perhaps one source of their continued fear of HIV. They know that condoms prevent the spread of disease. But most don't know how to correctly use a condom (see Appendix P, questions 87-89). The fourth year student's class lecture on AIDS mentioned earlier was the first time most of the females had ever touched a condom. They asked the lecturer how it should be used. It is difficult to imagine them being confident that they can protect themselves against AIDS when they do not know how to use the protection. Public health concerns are not the government's only motivation for addressing sex- related issues. Some messages are moral statements. One 15-second message had the word "théeng" (abort) on the screen. Then it showed a baby in someone's hands and the words "Abort for who?" 3 This is a particularly interesting PSM because abortion is illegal in Thailand except when the fetus is the product of rape or when the mother's health is endangered (Thailand Criminal Code section 3, clause 301). 4 But the PSM did not mention the law. It is instead a moral comment on the choice to abort. And the fact that there is a PSM at all suggests that the number of abortions is significant. Child prostitution is another topic addressed in the Thai media. It is so extensive that public service messages about it ran daily in 1994. One said, "Love your child, don't let her become a prostitute." All students are aware of this problem and of the international reputation of Thailand's sex industry. The government messages focused on the role of parents in prostitution (rather than, say, government-induced changes in the economic structure). However, most students see the main cause of child prostitution as socio-economic problems: poor farm production, insufficiently skilled people, and a lack of adequate jobs. It is frequently addressed as 3 thamthéeng phûa khray 4 In 2001, the national Medical Board proposed to amend the law to include cases where the mother's psychological health or the fetus' health are at stake. 130
Page 1 and 2: CHAPTER 6. OTHER CONCEPTS RELATING
Page 3 and 4: 1994, Slowing, p. 20). Migration ra
Page 5 and 6: home, Manisa visited the girl. Her
Page 7 and 8: his purchasing power is limited by
Page 9: HIV, as well as advice. It showed m
Page 13 and 14: who test positive for sexually tran
Page 15 and 16: government's values and understandi
Page 17 and 18: Princess Ubol Ratana attended MIT i
Page 19 and 20: structures and practices. Under Sia
Page 21 and 22: any assets he or she brought to the
Page 23 and 24: 305). Abortion providers may be pun
Page 25 and 26: caring for pregnancy, and science l
Page 27 and 28: students are talk shows, magazine-t
Page 29 and 30: calendars and in advertisements pos
Page 31 and 32: Figure 6.6 A typical nude calendar
Page 33 and 34: and the woman. Unlike older people
Page 35 and 36: uying shoes difficult (answer: ther
Page 37 and 38: sexuality, though students are expo
Page 39 and 40: Phŭa mia níi khon diaw kooy hîit
Page 41 and 42: animals and ghosts. He marries a be
Page 43 and 44: unceremonious irreverence" (Rogers,
Page 45 and 46: villages all over Isan. In Mahasara
Page 47 and 48: Mø˘ø Lam, Isan Performers Few co
Page 49 and 50: as, "Look at her teeth! Aren't they
Page 51 and 52: discussed here: hierarchy, jay yen,
Page 53 and 54: animism into a single supernatural
Page 55 and 56: and humbler when speaking of their
Page 57 and 58: told "jay yen yen ná." Having a co
Page 59 and 60: Appendix F). This is in part becaus
Page 61 and 62:
face or causing social disruption a
Page 63 and 64:
Boys not sharing personal informati
Page 65 and 66:
asic precepts. The few who do are a
Page 67 and 68:
example he offered was an explanati
Page 69 and 70:
English major who had been a monk f
Page 71:
karma. One's well-being depends on
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