Environmental Science. Week 4 Discussion

In the case study below describes the recent reduction in population growth in Thailand.

Based on the case study, complete the following:

• Suggest two lessons from Thailand’s experience that could be put into place elsewhere to reduce population growth.
• Determine the major links between wealth, birth rates, and shared environment within the United States and Thailand.
• Speculate on one method that a country could employ to attain a sustainable population. Be sure to provide your rationale for selecting this method.
• Be sure to support your responses with specifics and examples.

Case Study: Family Planning in Thailand: A Success Story

D own a narrow lane off Bangkok’s busy Sukhumvit Road is a most unusual café, Cabbages and Condoms. Not only is it highly rated for its spicy Thai food but it’s also part of the only restaurant chain in the world dedicated to birth control.  In an adjoining gift shop, baskets of condoms stand next to decorative handicrafts of the northern hill tribes. Piles of T-shirts carry message such as “A condom a day keeps the doctor away” and “Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy.” The business is run by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), Thailand’s larges and most influential nongovernment organization.

The PDA was founded in 1974 by Mechai Viravaidya, a genial and fun-loving former Thai Minister of Health, who is a genius at public rela-tions and human motivation (fig. 4.1). While traveling around Thailand in the early 1970s, Mechai recognized that rapid population growth—particularly in poor rural areas—was an obstacle to community development. Although Thailand’s economy was growing, poor families struggled to feed and educate their children. Rural communities re-mained depressed. And cities couldn’t keep up with growing demand for hous-ing, transportation, sanitation, and other services.

Mechai decided the most appealing way to teach family planning, and address the pains of population growth, was with humor. PDA workers handed out condoms at theaters, in traffic jams, anywhere a crowd gathered. They chal-lenged government officials to condom balloon–blowing contests and taught youngsters Mechai’s family planning song: “Too Many Children Make You Poor.” The PDA even pays farmers to paint birth control ads on the sides of their water buffalo.

The campaign has been extremely successful in slowing population growth. Birth control and family planning, once taboo topics in polite society, became normal and unembarrassing. Although condoms—now commonly called “mechais” in Thailand—are the trademark of PDA, other contraceptives, such as pills, spermicidal foam, and IUDs, are promoted as well. Thailand was one of the first countries to allow the use of the injectable contraceptive DMPA and remains a major user. Free non scalpel vasectomies are available on the king’s birthday. Sterilization has become the most widely used form of contraception in the country. The campaign to encourage condom use and to discuss safe sex has also been helpful in combating AIDS. In 1974, when PDA started, Thailand’s growth rate was 3.3 percent per year. In just 15 years, the growth rate dropped to 1.6 percent, one of the most dramatic birth rates declines ever recorded. Contraceptive use among married couples increased from 15 to 70 percent, and all this was done without coercive programs. Now Thailand’s growth rate is 0.5 percent, lower than that of the United States. The fertility rate (average number of children per woman) decreased from 7 in 1974 to 1.5 in 2017. The PDA is credited with the fact that Thailand’s population is 20 million less than it would have been if it had followed its pre-1970 trajectory.

In addition to Mechai’s creative genius and flair for showmanship, there are sev-eral reasons for this success story. Thai people love humor and are more egali-tarian than most developing countries. Thai spouses share in decisions regard-ing children, family life, and contracep-tion. The government recognizes the need for family planning and is willing to work with volunteer organizations, such as the PDA. And Buddhism, the religion of 95 percen

The PDA isn’t limited to family plan-ning and condom distribution. It has expanded into a variety of economic development projects. Microlending pro-vides money for a couple of pigs, or a bi-cycle, or a small supply of goods to sell at the market. Thousands of water-storage jars and cement rainwater-catchment ba-sins have been distributed. Larger-scale community development grants include road-building, rural electrification, and irri-gation projects. Like many population planning organizations, the PDA recog-nizes that human development and eco-nomic security are keys to successful population programs.