HIV/AIDS in Thailand

The rapid growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Thailand began in the late 1980s, as in many other countries in Asia, but with a subsequently more rapid upsurge in HIV prevalence than in the other countries. Some factors provided fertile ground for HIV transmission in Thailand, including an extensive sex industry that drew its male clientele from across the socioeconomic spectrum. This coincided with high levels of several other sexually transmissible infections (STI), and the widespread practice of injecting illicit drugs. These risk factors have been exacerbated by a certain societal reticence to publicly acknowledge the ubiquity of sexual and drug use practices that represent potential pathways for HIV transmission.