Teenage Values and Sexual Behaviour at Risk

The results of last year’s opinion poll show that the new young generation in Thailand has accepted sexual relationships without marriage. This survey of 15-22-year olds, from eleven Thai Provincial Youth Networks Against HIV/AIDS, indicates that 48.8% of these youths admitted to having sexual relationships, while 39.1% opined that it was quite normal to change sexual partners.

There are more young people contracting venereal disease, according to the information from Department of Communicable Disease Control, which indicates that 15-24-year olds were the group treated most for sexually transmitted diseases in the year 2007 and this is on the increase.

Females of less than 19 years of age have had the highest pregnancy rate. In the year 2008 about 77,000 female adolescents gave birth to male off-springs. The number of children and youngsters arrested tends to increase year by year. In 2007 there were 51,128 court cases, an increase of 41.71% over 2004. There were more than 1.3 million single-parent households.

The information from the Bureau of Epidemiology within the Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health, shows the number of young people infected with HIV and new kinds of sexually transmitted diseases is on the increase, owing to risky behaviour, especially having sexual relationships without protection.