New Thai HIV cases declining

[reader]

From The Nation

 

New cases of HIV in Thailand have fallen to less than 10,000 per year thanks to the increased use of condoms and advances in preventive medicine, the Disease Control Department's Bureau of AIDS, TB and STIs revealed on Thursday.

 

Bureau director Dr Saman Futrakul told the National News Bureau of Thailand that the rate of new HIV cases per year has dropped from its peak of 150,000 to between 6,000 and 10,000. He said the Public Health Ministry plans to lower the rate further to less than 1,000 a year by 2030. 

 

Dr Pannee Pitisutham, head of the Vaccine Center of the Mahidol University's Faculty of Tropical Medicine, said the center's AIDS vaccine development program, which has entered its third phase, got a promising result – an increase in immune cells - in the latest test conducted on male HIV-positive volunteers.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30315614

[PeterRS]

I assume the statistics have to be based on new reported cases.i wonder how many cases go unreported due in part to failure to be tested. I am also not sure how these square with the Averts 2015 statistics which stated that over 28% of msm in Bangkok are HIV+ and that the rate of increase amongst young guys was especially worrying.

 

https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/asia-pacific/thailand

[Guest ryanasia]

I am not that surprised. Statistics aside when I first came to Thailand not every guy insisted on using a condom. Now I would say at least 90% do.

[PeterRS]

Now I would say at least 90% do.

From all the reports I have read, condom use is more the exception in the many saunas that have sprung up in Bangkok which cater almost exclusively to young Thais. These are the ones well out of the city centre. If that is any indication of what is happening in other parts of the country amongst young Thai guys, then the concern expressed in that Avert report is justified. Christian may be able to confirm or shoot this suggestion down..

[Guest ryanasia]

From all the reports I have read, condom use is more the exception in the many saunas that have sprung up in Bangkok which cater almost exclusively to young Thais. These are the ones well out of the city centre. If that is any indication of what is happening in other parts of the country amongst young Thai guys, then the concern expressed in that Avert report is justified. Christian may be able to confirm or shoot this suggestion down..

Unprotected sex in gay saunas is the exception to the rule. 

[colmx]

I am not that surprised. Statistics aside when I first came to Thailand not every guy insisted on using a condom. Now I would say at least 90% do.

my experience - and that of my friends is the exact opposite to above

 

I have gone from 1 in 100 suggesting we don't need a condom... to 1 in 2 suggesting we don't need one

 

In fact a lot of guys just go ahead and try and sit on me raw without even asking for a condom... they grin at you and start to slowly glide you inside before you even realise what they are doing.

[Guest ryanasia]

ok

[Travellerdave]

During my first few trips to Pattaya in 2002 and 2003 I hardly used condoms despite being very active sexually (100% top) when offing from BT and Sunee bars. I Subsequently realised I had been skating on very thin ice but I got away with it both from an HIV prospective and from other sexual deseases. I only recall one boy insisting on a condom. Since then I have always used condoms for anal sex but not for oral, despite many boys being willing to dispense with them.

I'm now mostly bottom and I believe there is a greater risk from unprotected sex than it is the case for tops.

My experience with saunas in Thailand is confined to Babylon and Sansuck where I have not indulged in unprotected anal sex or witnessed it.

[Guest bidreamer]

Certainly the 39 underground seems to be a bareback heaven (or hell?). Clear change from some years ago, when you'd rarely see unprotected fucking in a sauna in Bangkok.

[sglad]

Certainly the 39 underground seems to be a bareback heaven (or hell?). Clear change from some years ago, when you'd rarely see unprotected fucking in a sauna in Bangkok.

 

Excuse me, but how do you see unprotected sex in a sauna?  During a group session with the light on?  Or a couple performing for everyone to see?  I've heard of bareback parties and such but these are organised, closed-door events.

[sglad]

my experience - and that of my friends is the exact opposite to above

 

I have gone from 1 in 100 suggesting we don't need a condom... to 1 in 2 suggesting we don't need one

 

In fact a lot of guys just go ahead and try and sit on me raw without even asking for a condom... they grin at you and start to slowly glide you inside before you even realise what they are doing.

 

Sca-ry.  Stealthing is also becoming more common.  It is rape essentially.

[Guest bidreamer]

Excuse me, but how do you see unprotected sex in a sauna?  During a group session with the light on?  Or a couple performing for everyone to see?  I've heard of bareback parties and such but these are organised, closed-door events.

Group or couple. It's pretty easy to notice if a guy puts on a condom before or not - not much light needed. Also own experience, guys just trying to guide me in without any protection.

[lilbob69]

Don't be silly, wrap his willy

[Guest ryanasia]

If you fuck money boys bareback on a regular basis you are not only batshit crazy but a big part of the problem.

[emailbroken]

If you fuck money boys bareback on a regular basis you are not only batshit crazy but a big part of the problem.

Absolutely. As with most of what is discussed here it takes two to tango and we have our share of the responsibility.

[sglad]

Absolutely. As with most of what is discussed here it takes two to tango and we have our share of the responsibility.

 

Agreed.  All you have to do is insist on a condom either as a fucker or a fuckee.

[ChristianPFC]

From all the reports I have read, condom use is more the exception in the many saunas that have sprung up in Bangkok which cater almost exclusively to young Thais. These are the ones well out of the city centre. If that is any indication of what is happening in other parts of the country amongst young Thai guys, then the concern expressed in that Avert report is justified. Christian may be able to confirm or shoot this suggestion down..

Most saunas have been around for years. In the last 5 years, several closed and only two new opened: Waterboy Onsen and Nake (and Nake is reincarnation of Muffil in new location and new name).

 

"cater almost exclusively to young Thais" I wish they did! But the age average is above 30, which is too old for my taste.

 

Condoms and lube are given with locker in most saunas, or are available on request.

 

Nowadays I avoid dark rooms, so I can't say what goes on in there. It's mostly too dark to see, you would have to grab the cock to feel if a condom is on.

 

I think use of condom is the norm in saunas. Supported by two recent cases in 39 underground, where my partner wanted to fuck me and produced a condom.

[Travellerdave]

I assume the statistics have to be based on new reported cases.i wonder how many cases go unreported due in part to failure to be tested. I am also not sure how these square with the Averts 2015 statistics which stated that over 28% of msm in Bangkok are HIV+ and that the rate of increase amongst young guys was especially worrying.

https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/asia-pacific/thailand

Reflecting on the above statistic I have to reflect on how lucky I was not to find myself HIV+ having fucked perhaps 20 to 30 money boys during my first couple of visits to Pattaya in 2002 and 2003 bareback. I wonder why I was so reckless but I know that in my life I have shown lack of judgement at critical times and being in the sexual charged Thai gay environment is conducive to making bad decisions not just sexual ones. Nowadays my head rules my cock thankfully.

I go for an HIV check during my trips and an always nervous waiting for the result and am really relieved when it's negative. I am wary if I have a small wound in the mouth area and desist from sucking cock until it clears up.

[sglad]

If you fuck money boys bareback on a regular basis you are not only batshit crazy but a big part of the problem.

 

Bahtshit crazy you mean.

 

Seriously, we need to play safe all the time, even with boyfriends.  You may know where your dick's been but can you say for certain you know where his has been?  Undying love and declaration of complete faithfulness or not.

[Schuft]

Are gay Thai Boys that are HIV+ pos stigmatized or ostracized in Thai culture?  Do they disappear from the "scene"? 

[ChristianPFC]

I don't know, but I don't think so. There are a few reports of boys who are positive and continue working.

 

Statistically, I must have had contact with dozens who are positive. I don't ask.

[steveboy]

From   https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/asia-pacific/thailand  :

 

"Thailand provides antiretroviral treatment (ART) for free as part of the country’s universal health insurance scheme.. It is one of only two countries in Asia and the Pacific that has more than 50% of people living with HIV on ART, the other being Cambodia. In 2015, 64% of adults who are eligible for treatment were receiving it, alongside more than 95% of children.

In October 2014, Thailand extended ART to all those living with HIV, regardless of their CD4 count (which indicates the health of the immune system), in line with the most recent WHO treatment guidelines. Since then, more thorough identification of new cases has been introduced to ensure people start receiving treatment as soon as possible after diagnosis.

Thailand committed to reach 90% of eligible adults and children with life-saving antiretroviral therapy by 2016. However, the adoption of these new treatment guidelines means it has now missed these targets."

 

In the absence of a cure for HIV, the rational way to eliminate it is to treat everyone infected so that their viral load goes to nearly zero and it is nearly impossible that they pass the virus to others. This is something good that can be said about Thailand.  In contrast, a very rich Singapore is far behind in social programs, offering little help and much bashing to people with HIV.  Their lack of concern is a curse of their homophobia...

[Guest tonywill]

PREP, Truvada (Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate) is another option  no one here has discussed.

Taken daily, 7 days before contact it can provide 92 - 98% reduction to HIV risk. Is available online and in BKK. Silom Pulse clinic sells 1 month supply for $91USD per month but prices are as low as $38 per Month + shipping from online chemists with prices falling every month!

You need a doctor to proscribe this and its essential that you get a blood test to 1/ Check you don't have HIV, 2/ Check your Creatinine levels as this drug will take a hit on your kidney eGFR by up to 6%. With a eGFR of <60 you could slip below 50 which is stage 3 CKD.

If concerned about the financial cost and damage to your kidneys there are several Prep studies at the moment trailing different dosage regimes. Some have found 4 pills per week to still give the same protection and the French Ipergay study is claiming 86% effectiveness with a double dose 2 hrs before unprotected sex and single dose 24 hrs after for 2 days (4 pills total) 

[a447a]

A "friend" who I see a lot of in Los told me of a couple of boys working the bars who he knows personally and who are positive.

 

He told me the government gives them the drugs free and also plays them to take them. I think he mentioned 15000 baht per month.

[Alexx]

I believe that they get their antiviral drugs for free, but I very much doubt that they get paid to take them by the government. Just to put that into perspective, many Thais who work full-time don't earn those 15,000 baht per month you've mentioned.