Abstract
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in two mountainous villages of the Karen, a major ethnic minority in Thailand. The participants were 566 villagers aged 15–54 years (371 in Village A, 195 in Village B; response rate=81.9%). Premarital/extramarital sex was experienced by 10–20% of the sexually active respondents and sex with a female sex worker (FSW) by 12.6% of males. Premarital sex was independently associated with being a Christian and occupational experience in town; extramarital sex was associated with Village A and drug use; sex with a FSW was associated with being unmarried, a nonfarmer, and occupational experience in town. Approximately 80% of the married participants never used a condom with their spouse, and nearly one-third never did so with a boy/girlfriend or a FSW. A history of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was associated with sex with a FSW. These findings suggest that nontraditional sexual practices are prevalent and could potentially threaten Karen communities with the spread of HIV.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Yoko Hayami, Professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan, for her valuable advice as an anthropologist specializing in social and cultural studies of the Karen. We also thank all the Karen respondents and interviewers for their cooperation and patience. This study was supported by a research grant from the Japanese Association for Sex Education.
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Kobori, E., Visrutaratna, S., Kada, A. et al. Prevalence and Correlates of Sexual Behaviors Among Karen Villagers in Northern Thailand. AIDS Behav 11, 611–618 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-006-9167-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-006-9167-6