Compiled and edited by Martin Flynn
documents required for passengers with HIV."
According to the Bangkok newspaper Matichon, the woman had entered Japan
illegally and was provided with a Thai Airways ticket by the country's
embassy in Tokyo. After the airline of her country of origin refused to
let her fly she then took a Japan Airlines flight home instead.
The case highlights discrimination by airlines against people who are
ill, particularly against people living with HIV.
Senator Jon Ungpakorn, a campaigner for the rights of people with HIV
in Thailand, said: "It is shameful when Thai Airways refuses to take
a Thai woman whose Japanese doctor has certified that her condition is
good enough to travel."
But Thai Airlines denied that they had acted in a discriminatory way and
said they needed confirmation that the woman did not have TB and was not
a health risk to other passengers. They said they had prepared an area
for the woman at the rear of their Bangkok-bound plane but by then she
had already chosen to fly home via another carrier.
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Nearly 70 per cent of Chinese teenagers get their information about sex from pornography, prompting worries that they may pick up skewed ideas, according to the China Daily newspaper. A lack of decent sex education is forcing many youngsters to seek knowledge about sex from adult web sites and porn videos, the paper says. "Both schools and families should provide easy access to sex education for pubescent children," said Zhang Chungai, a Beijing-based psychologist.
