With the main focus on sexual dysfunction, sexual behaviour and sexual education, the 9th Asia-Oceania Congress of Sexology will be held in Bangkok for the first time from November 1 to 4.

Since it was first held in Hong Kong in 1990, hosted by the Asia-Oceania Federation for Sexology, the congress has been held every two years. This year's theme is "Sexuality: No East, No West".

In Thailand alone there are about one million of people with sexual-dysfunction problems, not to mention those who suffer from such problems but do not seek medical help, said Dr Chavalit Mangkala-viraj, a preventive-medicine expert of the Disease Control Department.

Largely due to the sedentary lifestyle of people these days, sexual dysfunction had become a serious problem in Thailand, said the doctor.

As sexual-health problems stem from problematic sexual behaviour in Thais, such as unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease among teenagers, they have never been resolved, said Dr Prasert Louisecharoen, the deputy director-general of the Health Department.

And as talking about sex openly is still perceived as offensive in Thai society, the nation's efforts to improve sex education have gone nowhere, said Chavalit, who is also the secretary-general of the congress.

The congress is expected to come up with new knowledge and lessons learned to improve sexual-health promotion among the attending countries, said Dr Verapol Chandeying, secretary of the Consortium of Thai Training Institutes for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Aids.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation