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
July 2025
Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
July
3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 July – International Plastic Bag Free Day
5 July – World Youth Skills Day
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day
17 July – World Day for International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
Monthly Observances:
Schools Safety Month
Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
