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The study was conducted on 130 magazines gathered from 11 areas in Bangkok over a oneyear period, and the findings were based on 1,547 articles on real sexual experiences, erotic short stories and novels as well as question and answer sections.

Thammasat University's politicalscience lecturer, Chalidaporn Songsamphan, announced the results at a seminar organised by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation yesterday.

She explained that most erotic tales had similar storylines - the main character seduces a woman from the higher echelons of society through his sexual prowess. The stories often included torrid rape scenes and sex toys, she said, adding that of the 1,547 articles read, safe sex was only mentioned in 13.

Despite government control, porn magazines are still being snapped up, not just for cheap thrills but also as a cheap sexeducation tool, Chalidaporn said.

Nattaya Boonpakdee, manager of the Sexual Health Promotion Program under the foundation, said the study confirmed allegations that porn stimulated sexual desire, and urged Thais to find ways to tackle this problem. She admitted that though Thailand could never be completely rid of porn, and though it could continue being used for sex education, it also gave people ideas about sexual violence.

"We should have a medium that provides correct information to prevent people from getting wrong ideas about sex as they do from porn," she said, adding that students at all schooling levels be taught that sex is not just physical.