HIV Thailand

AIDS has become the leading cause of death in Thailand. The hospice at the Wat Prah Bat Nam Phu monastery at Lop Buri has 300 beds with a waiting list of 10,000 patients.

The donations of thousands of tourists, most of them Thai, sustain this monastery. These visits also help sensitize the public to the AIDS problem and educate school kids, who arrive by the busload.

Few patient's remains are ever claimed by their families.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• AIDS
• HIV
• Thailand
• Asia
• David
• Dare
• Parker
• Photojournalist

[lazytiger8]

@finate okay.....now I know our definition of respect and dignity are different. So why doesn't the temple give these people treatment rather than letting them die unnecessarily? Are you going to try and argue that the right to treatment is a 'western concept'?

[lazytiger8]

@finate Pfft... regardless of whether it is Western, Eastern, Southern or Northern......seems our definitions of respect and dignity are different.

[finate]

@lazytiger8 And to be honest, I don't think people who spend their last weeks or even days in this temple give a shit about "giving their consent", they have plenty of other things in their heads. I'd even go further and say most of them are happy because photos like this show the world how HIV can end your life. And it really doesn't matter why people donate money to this temple, as long as it keeps providing HIV infected a place to die in dignity it's a very good thing.

[finate]

@lazytiger8 No one need to day this way in 2011? This is SO damn western. Do you think these people are there for fun? They're there because their families reject them, because they're too poor or just too sick to get somebody to care for them. This temple is a chance for many HIV infected people to die in at least a tiny bit of dignity.

[lazytiger8]

This is outrageous when these people were alive did they give consent to be displayed like this?! Show some respect. Is the purpose here to educate? I think not. It is a freak show to make people curious and donate money. This place should be closed - noone with HIV need die this way in 2011 in Thailand.

[daviddouglasstanley]

So if one person in line to get vaccinated was infected, those after them became infected. there is a correlation between between the two. And in science: correlation is NOT causation.

[daviddouglasstanley]

HIV is related to SIV and did come out of Africa most likely from slaughtering monkeys for food. Monkey blood mixed with humans'. Over time SIV mutated into HIV. HIV was being transmitted in small pockets of the African population until the world health organizations instituted mass vaccinations. Also many roads opened up vast areas of Africa with increased mobility of infected persons. During the vaccination programs the medical professionals used one syringe for many people.

[Linia307]

Not only they eat the monkeys but have sex with them as well.

[DILIORA2]

it was in 1950s not 78 ;)

[DILIORA2]

now monkeys in Thailand and all over the world now has it huh? dumb ass!