BANGKOK, June 24 (AFP) - Tourists travelling to Thailand will be greeted with an "international" size condom along with the traditional smile in July to mark a global AIDS forum in Bangkok, a Thai senator said Thursday.
Senator Mechai Viravaidya said larger condoms would be handed out for free at the airport while a choice of sizes would be on offer in some taxis, the main train station and at freeway toll booths throughout the July 11-16 International AIDS Conference.
"There will be two sizes. A larger international condom and a smaller local one," Mechai told AFP, adding "but if a local feels they need an international condom then they will certainly be given one."
"It's just to let people realize we do have a problem with AIDS in the world and condoms are the major way of preventing it," said Mechai.
He said about 350,000 condoms would be handed out, but that if stocks dwindled more would be supplied.
Mechai spearheaded Thailand's first condom awareness campaign in the late 1980s which is credited with dramatically reducing the kingdom's annual rate of new HIV infections.
The 15-million-dollar AIDS conference, themed "Access for All", will bring together up to 20,000 delegates including world leaders, scientists, activists and people living with HIV-AIDS.
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