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Thailand鈥檚 Condom King

We meet Mechai Viravaidya or 鈥淢r Condom鈥 - a campaigner and former politician who helped bring down Thailand鈥檚 birth rate and prevent HIV, using a secret weapon - laughter.

Thailand in the 1960s was on the verge of a population disaster. Thai women were having seven children on average, and the government was struggling to raise living conditions. Mechai Viravaidya, a young economist who moonlighted as a soap actor, newspaper columnist and teacher, made it his mission to get family planning into every village in Thailand - he wanted to make condoms as easily accessible as vegetables.

Mechai realised he could use humour to break down Thai reservations about contraception, launching condom blowing competitions and condom beauty pageants. His efforts were so successful, condoms became known as 鈥淢echais鈥 in Thai, and he was nicknamed 鈥淭he Condom King鈥 or 鈥淢r Condom鈥. When the HIV/Aids crisis threatened to engulf Thailand in early 1990s, Mechai, now a government minister, launched a mass media campaign promoting condom use and made condoms available everywhere, from massage parlours to bus stops. It is estimated these preventative measures saved 7.7 million lives. We find out what lessons we can learn from his 45 years of campaigning. Presented by Mai Noman.

Reporter: Ruth Evans
Producer: Charlotte Pritchard

(Photo: Mechai Viravaidya)

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23 minutes

Last on

Tue 20 Jun 2017 19:06GMT

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