Phinij to open clinic for gay men
PATONG: Public Health Minister Phinij Jarusombat will tomorrow preside over the official opening of Patong Hospital’s “Sabaidee Clinic”, which will cater to the medical needs of gay men, whether residents or tourists.
The ceremony will take place at the auspicious time of 7:09 am.
The hospital’s Deputy-Director, Padungkiet Utokasenee, told the Gazette that the clinic, part of a network known as MSM clinics – for “Men who have Sex with Men”, will be the first of its kind outside Bangkok.
Previous attempts to set up such a clinic in Phuket have failed due to a lack of acceptance of homosexuals by Thai society, he noted.
Services will include diagnosis, treatment and counseling for sufferers of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, along with advice to gay men on how to protect themselves from such ills, K. Padungkiet said.
The clinic, on the hospital’s ground floor, will be open daily, except public holidays, from 4:30 to 9 pm. The first 100 people to use its services will receive a free gift and a blood test.
For more information call Tel: 076-344225.
