There were many successes of the program; this was attributable to a number of factors. Mechai’s creativity helped to gain support such as free drinks after a vasectomy. This coupled with the willingness and openness of the Thai people allowed new ideas to thrive. The government gave Mechai the resources and support he needed for the plan to be accomplished. However there were other reasons why the program succeeded, relationships were egalitarian in Thailand unlike most other countries as well as 95% of Thai’s are Buddhists therefore they supported family planning as Buddhism scripture preaches “Many children will make you poor”.
The methods of contraception were also key in the success of the PDA, condoms became the trademark of the campaign and there were also a number of other contraceptives that became more widely available such as the intravenous contraceptive which Thailand were amongst the first countries to use. It is injected and lasts for 3 months and has a failure rate of <1%. Crucially the availability of contraceptives was extended even to remote rural areas. Vasectomies are free on the King’s Birthday and sterilisation has now become the most widely used form of contraception in the country.
The fusion of economic development with family planning and education appealed to the majority of the people when encouraging population control, the PDA offered loans linked with contraceptive use which resulted in paying less interest back and preferential education was given to people who were practising family planning, this greatly increased the motivation of people to use contraception.
Nevertheless there were some failures of the programme, the policy received criticism for damaging the tourist industry, worth $4 Billion annually. Many critics also felt that he had driven away foreign tourists with his anti AIDs campaign and criticism of the commercial sex industry. Conversely Mechai argues that he is tried to save the tourist industry by controlling the spread of disease that would otherwise decimate the population. The prevalence rate of AIDs remains high in Thailand at 1.4% and the increased political focus has needed to match the economic input consequently the budget has increased twenty fold. The 100% condom programme aimed to enforce consistent use of condoms in all commercial sex establishments which resulted in many being shut down.
In all I believe that to most extent the programme was a large success, the growth rate of the population has decreased from 3.2% in 1970, to 1.4% in 1990 and in 2010 just 0.5%. Fertility rate has fallen drastically from 6.5 children per woman in 1970 to 1.8 in 2010. Contraception use is at an all time high of 79% compared to just 15% in 1970 however this has only rose by 11% from 1990. The population had expected to reach around 67 million by 1990 without Mechai’s intervention; it was almost a decade later when the population reached this point. The gross national product has also risen from $110 US in 1970 to 1840$ US in 2010 however it is ambiguous to whether the influence of the PDA can take acclaim for this. In 1997 the prevalence rate of AIDs was 2% and now in 2010 it is 1.4% although the decrease appears to be minor the estimated prevalence rate would be ten times higher than it is without the PDA and Mechai’s drive against the spread of AIDs. In conclusion I believe the successes of the program far outweighs the negatives, although it may have cost the tourist industry the money saved and reduced disease as a result of the program was indispensable to Thailand.
