Left out
The consequences of unplanned pregnancy are also often left out of classroom teaching, despite a lack of legal options.
A 2011 report by the United Nations Population Fund and Thailand’s National and Economic and Social Development Board showed the number of women hospitalised in connection with abortions increased by more than 16 per cent between 1994 and 2009, hitting 60,000 in 2009.
Yet, abortion is illegal in Thailand except in cases of rape or incest, to save a woman’s life or preserve her physical or mental health, and if the woman is under 15 years.
Under Thai law, the penalty for performing illegal abortions is up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10,000 baht (S$420).
Despite this, illegal clinics and back-street abortions abound.
In 2010, Thai police found 2,000 foetuses on the grounds of a Bangkok Buddhist temple. They were believed to have been sent there from illegal abortion clinics. – Asiaone