Mechai Viravaidya
{{Short description|Thai politician and activist (born 1941)}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2024}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Mechai Viravaidya
|native_name = มีชัย วีระไวทยะ
|native_name_lang = th
|image = Mechai Viravaidya 2008.jpg
|image_size = 250
|alt = Mechai Viravaidya wearing a suit and tie, speaking into a microphone, looking left of camera
|caption = Mechai in 2008
|nationality = Thai
|order =
|monarch1 =
|term_start1 =
|term_end1 =
|predecessor1 =
|successor1 =
|term_start2 =
|term_end2 =
|predecessor2 =
|successor2 =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1941|1|17}}
|death_date =
|death_place =
|spouse = Thanpuying Putrie Viravaidya
|children = Sujima Saengchaiwuttikun
|signature =
|alma_mater = International House, Melbourne
|religion =
}}
Mechai Viravaidya (born 17 January 1941, {{langx|th|มีชัย วีระไวทยะ}}; {{RTGS|Michai Wirawaithaya}}) is a former politician and activist in Thailand known for promoting condoms, family planning, and AIDS awareness.[https://web.archive.org/web/20061219145252/http://www.time.com/time/asia/2006/heroes/in_viravaidya.html Mechai Viravaidya, 60 Years of Asian Heroes], Time Asia, 13 November 2006 Since the 1970s, Mechai has been affectionately called "Mr. Condom", and condoms are often referred to as "mechais" in Thailand.{{cite news|last1=Pesek|first1=William Jr.|title=Six influential Asians changing their part of the world|url=http://www.mail-archive.com/proletar@yahoogroups.com/msg07264.html|access-date=18 June 2015|work=Bloomberg News|date=21 April 2005}} From the time that he began his work, the average number of children in Thai families has decreased from 7 to 1.5.[http://www.ted.com/talks/mechai_viravaidya_how_mr_condom_made_thailand_a_better_place.html TED Talk], 7 October 2010 He has been credited with leading efforts that improved the lives of millions of people.{{cite news |last1=Mydans |first1=Seth |title='Captain Condom' Turned the Tide in Thailand's War on AIDS and Overpopulation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/world/asia/thailand-aids-overpopulation-mechai.html |work=The New York Times |date=5 August 2022}}
Early life
Viravaidya was born in Bangkok to a Scottish mother and a Thai father, both of whom were doctors and had met while studying in Edinburgh.{{cite news|last1=Corness|first1=Iain|title=Successfully Yours: Mechai Viravaidya|url=http://www.pattayamail.com/496/who.shtml|access-date=19 June 2015|work=Pattaya Mail|date=31 January 2003}}{{cite news|last1=Shenon|first1=Philip|title=Conversations/Mechai Viravaidya; Brash and Unabashed, Mr. Condom Takes on Sex and Death in Thailand|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/20/weekinreview/conversations-mechai-viravaidya-brash-unabashed-mr-condom-takes-sex-death.html|access-date=19 June 2015|work=New York Times|date=20 December 1992}} He is one of four children. His younger brother, Sunya, is the founder of the Pattaya International Hospital.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} One of his sisters, Sumalee Viravaidya, was a journalist in the 1970s, writing for the Bangkok Post and The Nation.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} Viravaidya was educated in Australia at Geelong Grammar School and at Trinity College of the University of Melbourne, where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree. In 1965, he returned to Thailand and in 1966,{{Cite web|url=http://mechaifoundation.org/biography.php|title=Mechai Viravaidya Foundation{{!}} MechaiFoundation.org|website=mechaifoundation.org|access-date=3 May 2019}} he started to work in family planning, emphasizing the use of condoms. In 1973, he left the civil service and founded a nonprofit service organization, the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), to continue his efforts to improve the lives of the rural poor.{{cite web |last1=Gates |first1=Bill |title=All Hail the Condom King |url=https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Heroes-in-the-Field-Mechai-Viravaidya |website=gatesnotes |access-date=29 October 2018 |date=22 October 2018}} He used such events as condom-blowing contests for schoolchildren, encouraging taxi drivers to hand out condoms to their customers, and founding a restaurant chain called Cabbages and Condoms, where condoms were given to customers with the bill.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}
Next to the original restaurant, in Bangkok, there is a family planning clinic, one of several places in the Thai capital where poor women can receive pregnancy termination, a practice that is legal in the country per Section 305 of the Thai penal code but often perceived as illegal.[http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/population/abortion/Thailand.abo.htm Thailand Penal Code Section 301-305][http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/thailand.html Thailand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080729232531/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/thailand.html |date=29 July 2008 }}, in The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 1997–2001 The clinic is permitted by the authorities due to the dangers of unsafe abortion caused by economic difficulties.[http://www.familycareintl.org/UserFiles/File/pdfs/pub_pdfs/gsm20.pdf The Health Impact of Unsafe Abortion]
Later life
{{More citations needed|section|date=February 2024}}
Viravaidya served as deputy minister of industry from 1985 to 1986, under prime minister Prem Tinsulanonda. He later served as senator from 1987 until 1991. During this time, AIDS appeared in Thailand, and he increased his efforts to promote sexual-safety awareness.
A military coup in 1991 installed prime minister Anand Panyarachun, who then appointed Viravaidya minister for tourism, information, and AIDS. He was able to start a large, successful AIDS education campaign and served until 1992. At that time, he became the chairman of the Foundation for International Education, a nonprofit organization that serves as the governing body of the NIST International School. Viravaidya continued to serve as chair until stepping down in May 2002.
In 1995, he was appointed an honorary officer of the Order of Australia, for "service to Australian-Thai relations and contributions to the world AIDS debate".[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/882144 It's an Honour]
In 2004, Viravaidya again became a senator. In 2006, he won praise from the toilet industry (but criticism from the retail industry) for proposing that retailers be obliged to build a public toilet for every ten square metres of retail space.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929134047/http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/11/18/headlines/headlines_30019323.php Toilet-train food firms: Mechai], The Nation, 18 November 2006
As of 2007, Viravaidya continued to oversee rural development and health initiatives as the chairman of PDA, now the largest NGO in Thailand, with 600 employees and 12,000 volunteers. On 29 May 2007, PDA was awarded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Gates Award in recognition of its pioneering work in family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention.[http://www.gatesfoundation.org/gates-award-global-health/Pages/2007-population-and-community-development-association.aspx 2007 Gates Award for Global Health: PDA], Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved 2 January 2010. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501002349/http://www.gatesfoundation.org/gates-award-global-health/pages/2007-population-and-community-development-association.aspx |date=1 May 2010 }} This award came with a grant of $1,000,000.{{citation|url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/cabbages-and-condoms-a-winning-idea/|title=Cabbages and Condoms, a Winning Idea|date=29 May 2007|work=The Lede|author=Mike Nizza}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
Further reading
- Thomas D'Agnes. From Condoms to Cabbages: An Authorized Biography of Mechai Viravaidya. Post Books 2001. {{ISBN|974-228-009-6}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100920080323/http://mechaifoundation.org/mechai_bio.asp Mechai Viravaidya] biography
- [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/series/champions/mechai_viravaidya.html Global Health Champion page, Rx for Survival series]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090214075407/http://sic.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3807.html Podcast interview with Mechai Viravaidya], Social Innovation Conversations, 24 June 2008
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viravaidya, Mechai}}
Category:People educated at Geelong Grammar School
Category:People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)
Category:Ramon Magsaysay Award winners
Category:Honorary officers of the Order of Australia