Former Thai minister of health airs support for RH measure

MANILA, Philippines — The “Condom King” of Thailand is urging proponents of the reproductive health (RH) measure in the Philippines not to give up the fight despite opposition from some sectors.

Mechai Viravaidya, the renowned fighter for family planning and safe sex, rallied behind the pro-RH groups and highlighted the importance of family planning in the fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty in any country.

The former Thai health minister, who spearheaded an aggressive campaign to promote the use of condoms that reduced the spread of HIV in Thailand, emphasized that a condom is a “lifesaver” and a “weapon of mass protection.”

Mechai is the founder of the Bangkok-based chain of restaurants, Cabbages and Condoms, that offers good Thai food and a dose of sex education. The restaurant, located in a tropical garden courtyard in the bustling Thai capital, is named after his belief that condoms should be as available as cabbages, staple in Thai kitchens.

To break the taboo on safe sex, condoms are part of the restaurant decorations, including mannequins and lamps built out of condoms. Safe sex posters also decorate the walls of the eatery popular to foreign and local visitors.

“If you believe on what you are doing in whatever country, and you generally believe in what you are doing it for public good, keep going,” Mechai said in a media interview.

“It is important for any country that the number of people being born is going to be cared for properly. When you have a population growth rate that is faster that you can care for, you will have difficulties,” he added.

Mechai, who also founded the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), said Thailand and Philippines had the same population 25 years ago but “now we have 64 million and you have 92 million.”

“We still have a lot of poor people but we will be a lot poorer if we didn’t have our family planning program,” he said. –GENALYN KABILING, Manila Bulletin