BANGKOK, Feb 11 – Thailand’s Ministry of Social Development and Human Security disclosed that Thai girls are ranked as Asia’s top for unready pregnancies, with 9-year-old girls found as the youngest child-bearers.
Wichien Chawalit, the ministry’s permanent-secretary, presided over an event for the campaign against unready pregnancies, held Tuesday at Nonthaburi province’s Home for Disabled Babies (Bann Fuengfah), which is under the ministry’s care.
He said he wants youngsters to see abandoned children and those disabled ones born from unplanned pregnancies. There are about 400 of such at Bann Fuengfah.
Meanwhile, Kanchana Sombatsirinand from Thammasat University Hospital said children under 15 years old have increasingly been found in their student uniforms leaving their pregnancies under the hospital’s care.
The youngest are 9 years-old, while 30 per cent of the girls are in grades 8 and 9. Some girls aged 11 to 12 are already pregnant with their second child.
