Knowledge and meaning: The AIDS education campaign in rural Northeast Thailand

• Published in: Social science & medicine (1982) Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 135 - 146
• Main Author: Lyttleton, Chris
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 1994; Elsevier; Pergamon Press Inc
• Series: Social Science & Medicine
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - prevention & control; AIDS; AIDS/HIV; Biological and medical sciences; commercial sex; Education; Educational Programs; Female; Health Education; HIV rural NE Thailand sexual behaviour commercial sex social context; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Prevention and actions; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk-Taking; Rural Areas; Rural Health; rural NE Thailand; Rural Population; Sex Education; Sex Work; Sexual Behavior; sexual behaviour; social context; Social research; Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...); Thailand; Tropical medicine; Thailand; Asia; AIDS/HIV; social context; rural NE Thailand; commercial sex; sexual behaviour; Human; Immunopathology; Evaluation; Sanitary program; Rural environment; Sexual behavior; Behavior change; Commerce; AIDS; Hemopathy; Health education; Knowledge; Infection; Mass campaign; Viral disease; Public health; Northeast
• ISSN: 0277-9536; 1873-5347
• DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(94)90308-5

Nearly 80% of Thailand's population live in the rural sector. To date, these villages have been subject to top-down dissemination of HIV/AIDS education information via the mass media and bureaucratic networks. This report details an ethnographic enquiry into the impact education campaigns are having in one village in Northeast Thailand. It is found that AIDS information is primarily integrated with local conceptions of sexual behaviour and commercial sex. By the early 1990s, heterosexual behaviour is a major mode of HIV transmission in Thailand. Local and international media discourse focuses on the commercial sex industry in describing the spread of the virus. However, the lack of detailed research of sexual practices in Thailand makes accurate projections of HIV transmission difficult and allows unsubstantiated claims to be made concerning typical Thai sexual behaviour. This paper explores the local context in which these practices are found and discusses the meanings villages attached to HIV/AIDS information. Knowledge levels and behaviour change are assessed and it is argued that community based imperatives are essential for effective future campaigning.