Tangmunkongvorakul Arunrat, Musumari Patou Masika, Srithanaviboonchai Kriengkrai, Manoyos Veruree, Techasrivichien Teeranee, Suguimoto S Pilar, Ono-Kihara Masako, Kihara Masahiro, Chariyalertsak Suwat
Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Department of Global Health and Socio-epidemiology, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan.
PLoS One. 2017 Aug 15;12(8):e0183255. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183255. eCollection 2017.
Many young migrant workers move across the border to Chiang Mai, a major city in Northern Thailand, in search of work opportunities. This study describes their sexual behavior, lifestyles, relationships and experiences with youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services.
This is the qualitative arm of a mixed methods study using focus group discussions (FGDs) among young MWs aged 15-24 years in urban Chiang Mai. We conducted 6 FGDs with 84 participants (43 males, 41 females) organized in groups of 10-15 people, including 3 groups of males, 2 groups of females, and 1 group of both males and females.
We found that the lack of parental control, pressure to assimilate into Thai society, access to social media and modern communication technologies, and limited knowledge and access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services interplayed to shape lifestyle and sexual behaviors, including low condom use among young migrants.
The present study helped discern the vulnerability of young migrants to adverse SRH outcomes. This particular group of youth needs urgent intervention to improve their knowledge on SRH and access to a youth-friendly clinic to help them personalize risk of HIV and other adverse SRH outcomes.
许多年轻农民工跨越边境前往泰国北部的主要城市清迈寻找工作机会。本研究描述了他们的性行为、生活方式、人际关系以及在青年友好型性与生殖健康（SRH）服务方面的经历。
这是一项混合方法研究的定性部分，采用焦点小组讨论（FGD），对象是清迈市15至24岁的年轻农民工。我们组织了6次焦点小组讨论，共有84名参与者（43名男性，41名女性），每组10至15人，包括3组男性、2组女性和1组男女混合。
我们发现，缺乏父母监管、融入泰国社会的压力、接触社交媒体和现代通信技术以及对性与生殖健康（SRH）服务的知识和获取有限等因素相互作用，塑造了他们的生活方式和性行为，包括年轻移民中避孕套使用率较低。
本研究有助于识别年轻移民在性与生殖健康方面易出现不良后果的脆弱性。这一特定青年群体需要紧急干预，以提高他们在性与生殖健康方面的知识，并获得青年友好型诊所的服务，帮助他们了解感染艾滋病毒及其他性与生殖健康不良后果的个人风险。
