A recent survey among some 400 vocational students showed more than half had sex
for the first time when they were about 17 years old, he said.
Two hundred students in Bangkok and another 205 in Surin province took part in
the survey conducted by the university's Institute of Health Research.
The academic said the main factors contributing to the problem included a
broken-home background, sexually provocative materials presented by the mass
media, easy access to alcoholic drinks, and excessive freedoms enjoyed by young
people living away from their parents.
In order to effectively tackle this problem, serious actions were needed from
all authorities concerned, especially the ministries of Culture, Education,
Information and Communications Technology, Social Development and Human
Security, and Public Health. And the prime minister was the one who could
ensure these ministries work together in earnest to deal with the problem, said
the academic.
Meanwhile, Senator Wallop Tangkhananurak, a child rights and welfare advocate,
said he disagreed with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's expressed idea that
he himself should chair a government central committee handling social problems
involving children.
Mr Thaksin should act only as a ``major support and consultant'' and allow the
ministers concerned to deal with such problems, the senator said.
It would be better if Mr Thaksin listen more to the ministers' views and
suggestions on how to solve those problems. He should refrain from playing a
dominant role and allow his ministers to have enough confidence to speak out,
said the senator.
Somphong Jitradub, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's education faculty,
said the prime minister was too slow in dealing with social problems involving
children.
Mr Thaksin had paid ``too much'' importance to economic and security problems
and ignored social problems affecting young people that should have been dealt
with urgently, he said.
The government must strictly enforce laws that protect child rights if it hoped
to solve these pressing social problems, Mr Somphong said
``Drugs, sex, alcohol, online games and pornographic media are the social
problems that Thai children are encountering. I want the government to take
serious action against these bad things first,'' he said.
