Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - June 29, 2004
Apiradee Treerutkuarkul - Chiang Mai
The prime minister hugged the orphans, examined their living quarters and was briefed about the situation at Ban Mitrathorn in Chiang Dao district, which houses 52 orphans aged between two and 13.
The orphanage has been operating since 1998 under the patronage of the Princess Ubolratana Foundation.
Thailand will host the international meeting on Aids from July 11-16. About 15,000 participants will gather to map out efforts to combat the global epidemic.
"Thailand is a good example of a country which could raise awareness among children and people in the community in terms of condom use and safe sex," said Inese Zalitis, a UN Children's Fund official.
Other organisations taking part are UNAids, the UN Development Programme, the UN Population Fund, the World Health Organisation along with diplomats from China, Japan, Nigeria and Sweden.
Mr Thaksin left for Chiang Mai after the visit but the delegates also went to see the community health project in Mae Rim district run by an HIV-positive patient, Pimchai Intamoon.
With financial support from the northern Thailand-Australia Project for Aids Control, Ms Pimchai said the project could generate 100,000 baht a month from textile exports to Japan, Europe and the US. The money will be used to support anti-retroviral treatment for Aids patients in the community, she added.
Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the visit to Chiang Mai was a way of showing the international community just how much work Thailand had done on Aids prevention.
Mrs Sudarat said the Public Health Ministry plans to reduce new Aids infection cases to less than 19,000 this year from 21,000 last year. It will launch an HIV/Aids campaign aimed at younger people aged from 15-25, she added. Health authorities are concerned that the number of Aids patients in this group has risen over the past few years.
The number of Aids patients in the country is expected to reach 1.07 million this year, almost half of them children.
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