In 2018, there were around 480 000 people living with HIV in Thailand, with 75% having access to treatment.

An estimated 6400 people became newly infected with HIV in 2018, a decrease of 59% compared to 2010.   

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Key population-led organizations delivering health services in Bangkok

Boy Somjai and Jam Chainukul (not their real names) are a young same-sex couple from Bangkok, Thailand. At the start of their relationship, they decided to take HIV tests for the first time. Looking for information online, their friends suggested the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand (RSAT), a community-based HIV clinic located off a busy street in Bangkok.

RSAT, with four clinics and 10 drop-in centres in different cities across Thailand, serves as a one-stop service where gay men and other men who have sex with men and transgender people can access HIV prevention services and take part in HIV-related information sessions, with flexible service hours suitable for the lifestyles of many people from key populations.

Danai Linjongrat, the Executive Director of RSAT, said, “Access to HIV services for key populations is among the biggest challenges to the HIV response in the country. It is extremely important that key populations can access HIV prevention and treatment services without fear of discrimination.”

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Empowering young people living with HIV to became agents of change in Thailand

There are approximately 24 000 young people aged 15–24 years living with HIV in Thailand. In 2018, young people accounted for nearly half of the 6400 new HIV infections in the country.

Thailand has made great strides in its AIDS response, providing antiretroviral therapy free of charge as part of its universal health coverage scheme. However, adolescents and young people living with HIV often fall out of care or do not receive the support they need to remain on treatment. Self-stigma, stigma and discrimination and transition from paediatric care to adult care are some of the challenges faced by adolescents and young people living with HIV.

To close this gap, three years ago the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other national partners led by the Thai Network of People Living with HIV created the Thai Network of Youth Living with HIV. The main objective was to empower adolescents and young people living with HIV to be agents of the change that they wanted to see in their lives. 

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Supporting communities to be involved in the AIDS response in Thailand

The UNAIDS Country Office in Thailand, with a small team of three staff members, is located in Bangkok. Orawan Bettenhausen, the Administrative Assistant, has been part of the team for almost 20 years. “Being part of the UNAIDS family has empowered and transformed me into who I am today. I have been very fortunate to have had country directors who have coached me, and great colleagues and peers, both within and outside of UNAIDS, who have assisted, supported and inspired me,” she said.

Ms Bettenhausen recalls meeting a person living with HIV, a representative of the Thai Network of People Living with HIV, in her first weeks with UNAIDS. “I asked him about his life. When he finished talking, I was in tears,” she said. “To my surprise, he told me that neither he nor any other person living with HIV would want me to feel sorry for them. They just wanted to be accepted for who they are. He taught me a huge lesson, and I made a commitment to work for people living with and affected by HIV.”

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Turning the tide of the HIV epidemic in Thailand

It is a morning like any other at the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre, a civil society organization operating under the umbrella of the Thai Red Cross Society. In a building in the heart of Bangkok, nurses, doctors, counsellors and peer educators are busy with their daily work, providing HIV services for the 200 people who attend the Thai Red Cross Anonymous Clinic every day for medical check-ups, HIV tests and HIV prevention services, including condoms and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

When he was 35 years old, Praphan Phanuphak―the Director of the centre, which he co-founded in 1989―discovered the first case of HIV in Thailand. “It happened by accident. A patient was referred to me to investigate why he had a recurrent fungal skin infection,” he recalled. “In February 1985, this patient was admitted with pneumocystis pneumonia. During that month, another man was referred to the hospital with generalized cryptococcus infection. Both were diagnosed with HIV. Since then, I have devoted my life to treating people living with HIV and developing solutions to expand access to HIV services in the country.”

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