Initially, the Clinic Chai Rak Chai (Men Love Men Clinic) at Bang Rak Hospital
was established to extend medical services to underprivileged male prostitutes
working in nearby areas, particularly Phat Phong on Silom Road, the most
popular red-light district in town. But through word of mouth and cooperation
among gay activist groups, the clinic - which now operates as Men's Health
Clinic - has blossomed into a haven for gay men seeking medical services and
counselling with compassion.
The clinic is now a small community centre for homosexuals, a place to
socialise and plan outreach activities such as campaigns to promote condom use
and peer-to-peer gay sex education for the younger generation.
A couple of years back, the Disease Control Department (DCD) and a
collaborative team of the US Centres for Disease Control and Thai health
authorities conducted a survey of male prostitutes and gay men at a number of
cruising parks in Bangkok. They found an alarming 17 per cent HIV/Aids
infection rate.
The findings were the same as those found in similar places in the United
States, Spain and even India.
With the survey results in hand, the DCD decided to develop the clinic for male
sex workers to ensure them access to proper healthcare, said Dr Sombat
Thaenprasertsuk, the director of the department's HIV/Aids division.
The Clinic Chai Rak Chai, open Monday through Friday, can accommodate only
about 20 patients per day.
Unlike other clinics, the doctor allows more time for each customer to question
them about their sexual behaviours, diagnosing, and individual counselling on
safe sex, said Dr Ungkhana Charoenwatanachokechai, the clinic's director.
Apart from checking for and treating sexually transmitted diseases, the clinic
treat its patients for any kind of diseases, particularly sex workers, who are
treated gratis.
The patients are different, yet so are the doctors. Not only are they specially
trained for the job, the doctors must have sympathy for these people in many
ways including they way they have sex, said the doctor.
"Medically having no clue about how these people have sex, non-specialist
doctors tend to miss the nuances or even the point of diagnosis," Sombat said.
To give a clear picture of how different these men are from their heterosexual
counterparts, Sombat said the most common diseases among the clinic's patients
are gonorrhoea in the throat or anus. And to detect the disease, doctors are
required to get a swab sample from the patient's throat or anus rather than his
penis, which male patients are subjected to.
One concrete success of the Chai Rak Chai clinic, he said, was that the average
HIV/Aids rate found among customers had decreased to about 14 per cent from
about 17 per cent previously.
Given the success of the clinic, the DCD is planning to open similar offices in
other large cities around the country including Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Phuket,
and Pattaya. Also, the Bangkok clinic will expand its hours and days of
operation.
Moreover, a private hospital is considering opening a similar clinic in Bangkok
for upper-class gay customers, the ones that can afford to pay.
