The Kingdom of Lanna and the HIV Epidemic

Army from the upper north was HIV infected, while among these men in Bangkok, only 1
in 50 was HIV positive.(6) Indeed. the upper north, with less a tenth of the Thai national
population, now accounts for more that a third of HIV infections and almost half of
Thailand's AIDS deaths.(4) Why?
The answer to this question is still emerging. Understanding the root causes of this
human tragedy may help us to understand the other HIV epidemics now underway in parts
of Burma, India, and Cambodia, as well as HIV rates showing signs of epidemic potential in
Nepal and Viet Nam.
How will this new epidemic affect the people of Lanna? There is always a long "lag
time" from the start of an HIV epidemic to a full-blown AIDS epidemic. This is due to the
unusually long incubation period of the virus; 5-10 years or more of HIV infection are usually
needed before the clinical AIDS syndrome develops.' What this means is that the many
hundreds of thousands of Thais infected with HIV in the last 5 years are only now beginning
to fall ill. When the AIDS cases and deaths are at their peak, and something like one in eight
young northern Thai men, and perhaps one in 20 women are dying, the implications of this
catastrophe will begin to be understood. Choices will have to be made between fear and
acceptance, activism or resignation, social cohesion through struggle and loss, or social
disruption. If this sounds extreme, one need only look at some of the countries and regions
where similar levels of HIV have been seen, but where the death toll has been already high
for a decade; Haiti, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire.
Lanna Culture. Social Tolerance. and HIV
HIV can spread through several routes; the parenteral route (sharing needles, using
unsterile injection equipment, and transfusion of infected blood and blood products), from
HIV refers to the human immunodeficiency virus, the viral agent that causes AIDS.
AIDS, the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is a complex syndrome with protean
manifestations which develops after long-term infection with HIV. The Thai language,
unfortunately, is somewhat ambiguous on this distinction, referring to HIV as "chua' aid" and

the disease as "rot' aid."

4