Bangkok, 28 October 2013 - The recent book fair at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center was spiced up by the enjoyable event jointly organized by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, Thailand Country Office, and Berry Magazine to raise awareness of the young people about how to prevent teenage pregnancy.
On the Saturday afternoon of 19 November, crowds of young readers packed the Meeting Room 1 to participate in the entertaining discussion led by Dr. Kittipong Saejeng, Director of Bureau of Reproductive Health, Ministry of Public Health and a group of celebrities from the famous series ‘Hormones' to inform the audience about safe sex.
Actresses and actors from the popular Hormone teen drama series glued the young audience by exchanging views how the series resonate with the adolescents these days and what should be the lessons learned for the audience. They include Mr. Methakorn Suphapattaree (Ice), Ms. Sananthachat Thanapatpisal (Fon) and Ms. Supassra Thanachat (Kao)-who portrayed the liberal girl who refused to have sex without protection. At one point, the young audience gushed as the speakers showed them how to use condom from the model, the approach which has not been commonly practiced in many schools in Thailand.
The event is part of the collaboration between UNFPA Thailand and Berry Magazine, one of the most-read teen magazines in Thailand, to educate Thai teens about adolescent pregnancy. In addition to this star-studded event, UNFPA Thailand also writes a monthly column in the magazine and answers the questions by the young readers for a year.
Adolescent pregnancy has emerged as the worrisome issue in Thailand as the number of teenage moms has risen over the past five years. The latest figure by the Thai Public Health Ministry shows that around 54 mothers out of 1,000 who gave birth in 2011 were between 15-19 years old.
Additional photos can be found at UNFPA Thailand Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnfpaThailand
For more information, please contact Ms. Saneekan Rosamontri, email: rosamontri@unfpa.org, or Ms. Jeerawat Na Thalang, email: nathalang@unfpa.org.
