Complaints by feminist groups have forced Bangkok authorities to replace signs that called on women but not men to remain chaste on city buses where Thai youths are known to have sex, an official said on Friday.
The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority on Friday began posting improved versions of the signs, which are part of a morality campaign aimed at getting teenagers to stop their X-rated activities on public transport.
Rights groups were up in arms this week over the authority’s previous notices on buses calling for female riders to ”reserve themselves”.
”We have received complaints from feminist groups that the previous signs focused solely on women, so we have changed the wording to include both sexes,” an authority official said.
According to the official the new signs read: ”Guard your heart, protect your body. Both women and men, preserve your culture.”
They are to be posted in all 3 600 city buses, in a broadening of the original campaign that saw the earlier signs posted on one route which reportedly passes by several ”love motels”.
In addition to the signs, bus conductors and drivers will be ordered to use all interior lights and open window shades after dark, the official said.
The Nation newspaper quoted Usa Lerdsrisuntad of the Foundation for Women as saying the previous notices ignored the misbehaviour of Thai men.
”The problem doesn’t come from women not preserving their purity,” she said in the daily.
Thailand has grappled with a societal liberalisation in recent years, including a reported rise in teenage sex, which some groups have decried as an erosion of traditional values. — Sapa-AFP