The deputy Bangkok governor's plan to relaunch condom vending machines in city-run schools is getting a mixed reaction, with the city's own public health division doubting it will work.
Deputy Bangkok governor Pusadee Tamtai raised the idea of providing low-cost condoms at district offices, city-run schools, and city agencies to lower the rate of Aids infection in the capital.
She floated the plan at a meeting of the city's 2015 Aids, TB and STIs Control Division (ATSCD) committee this week.
Ms Pusadee said city figures revealed more than half of patients infected with Aids last year were aged under 25. Bangkok Metropolitan Administration records show 61,600 people in the capital have Aids, of whom 3,302 died last year.
City Hall says 24,762 have been treated with Aids aniti-viral drugs and 1,824 were new patients. Homosexuals made up 1,071 of the new patients.
The figures also found the rise in Aids infections had resulted from a lack of condom use.
The meeting said a campaign would be needed telling the public the vending machines are designed to promote safer sex.
Some school heads are keen on the idea, but the head of City Hall's public health division says it is unlikely to be practical.
Linda Woharndee, director of Prachaniwet School, said the plan would help deal with the rising number of infections.
She said parents should understand that many young people have sex. "What they need is access to safe sex," she said.
But Piyathida Smutraprapoot, the head of City Hall's ATSCD, which deals with public health issues, said many parents and teachers still oppose the idea for fear it would encourage children to have sex at an early age.
Sompong Jitradup, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's faculty of education, said the condom-vending machines could help provide access to safe sex.
He also gave an example of the condom-vending machines being installed at schools in Sa Kaeo province which he said brought down the high rate of unwanted pregnancies.