4 October 1984

First local HIV/AIDS case confirmed

Doctors confirmed Thailand’s first case of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). They said the disease, which was reportedly found ‘mostly among homosexual men’, could become widespread as the country lacked prevention methods.

The patient, who was in his 20s, was identified as a male postgraduate student who had contracted the disease while studying in the US. He returned to Thailand in September and was then admitted to Ramathibodi Hospital with a lung inflammation in late September. Doctors said that most hospitals in Thailand could not even diagnose the contagious disease yet.

According to reports, the patient responded to treatment and six days later his doctor said he was recovering and no longer in danger. He died the following month.

4 October 1984

First local HIV/AIDS case confirmed

Doctors confirmed Thailand’s first case of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). They said the disease, which was reportedly found ‘mostly among homosexual men’, could become widespread as the country lacked prevention methods.

The patient, who was in his 20s, was identified as a male postgraduate student who had contracted the disease while studying in the US. He returned to Thailand in September and was then admitted to Ramathibodi Hospital with a lung inflammation in late September. Doctors said that most hospitals in Thailand could not even diagnose the contagious disease yet.

According to reports, the patient responded to treatment and six days later his doctor said he was recovering and no longer in danger. He died the following month.