translated from Spanish: Sex diseases that plague Thailand, the largest tourist destination in Southeast Asia

2017 Thailand received more than 35 million visitors , consolidating itself as the first tourist destination in Southeast Asia. And as the figures of tourists rise, so do the rates of diseases and sexually transmitted infections (STD and STI, respectively), mainly HIV, gonorrhea and chlamydia. These types of diseases and infections have spread sustainably due to sex tourism, the little use of condoms and erratic disease treatments.
Sex tourism
Although prostitution in Thailand is illegal since 1960, in 2015 it was estimated that the business accumulates US $6.4 billion of revenue annually.
The sex trade in Thailand is of international knowledge. “We’re not a sex destination. If you want sex, go to Thailand, “said the Gambia’s tourism minister, Hamat Bah. Days later, the Government of the African country apologized to Thailand.
The main germ of the spread of STD and STI is the null use of condoms. Several Thai sex workers have accused their clients of opting not to use a condom. According to figures of 2017, in that year there were 440,000 people from the HIV-infected population.
The Thai government has promoted a campaign focused on promoting culture, gastronomy and tourist landscapes to lower the numbers of sex tourism.
Gonorrhea and Chlamydia
HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea and chlamydia lead sexually transmitted diseases and infections in Thailand, especially the last two. The high costs of health care in that country have resulted in some of the population resorting to self-medication.
“If you don’t hit the disease with the right antibiotic, you’re not going to eradicate it,” says the gynecologist and medical director of the Center for Reproductive Studies (CER), David Vantman.
In the Chilean case, gonorrhea has had exponential growth. In 2018, the number of infected grew 13% compared to the preceding year, according to the Minsal. One of the characteristics of the disease is that it is highly contagious.
Vantman indicates some of the symptoms of gonorrhea. “In man is technically striking. There is thick secretion through the penis, then the man realizes quickly that something is strange. In the case of women it is very noticeable. You may notice a different vaginal discharge, “he says.
Among the consequences of gonorrhea in the body are tubal lesions in women and men can cause chronic infections of the area. “Condoms must be used if or if,” says the CER’s medical director.
On the situation of chlamydia in Chile “There is not a lot of data, so if you know there are more cases,” explains Vantman. The Doctor explains that chlamydia is virtually asymptomatic in men, whereas in women it is expressed by secretions, similar to the case of gonorrhea.
The consequences of infection occur in women; The man is only a bearer. The woman suffers an important lesion of the fallopian tubes, according to Vantman.
The common treatment between gonorrhea and chlamydia is the intake of antibiotics that differ from one another. A treatment that, self-medicated, does not eradicate the disease, but expands it, as is the case in Thailand.

Original source in Spanish