Knowledge and attitude levels toward HIV/AIDS among Arab male tourists in Thailand

Abstract

Background: Thailand tourism sector encourages tourists from all over the world. Hence, the numbers of Arab tourists are large enough to visit this country each year. In the Middle East and the North Africa (MENA) regions considered the lowest level of the prevalence of the HIV/AIDS. This might affect their Knowledge regarding the disease. Many reasons lead to the low prevalence of HIV in the region; and the main reason has been credited to the conservative cultural values of traditional Arab society. This study assessed the HIV knowledge and attitude levels among Arab male tourists who visiting Bangkok and Pattaya.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was used to describe the socio-demographic, knowledge, attitudes, and association between socio-demographic and level of HIV knowledge attitudes among Arab male tourists in Thailand. A convenience sampling using electronic survey was conducted with the Arab male tourists aged 18 years old and above visiting Thailand not more than 6 months.

Results: There were 384 participants, the majority of participants were aged between 30-44 years. All of them were male; and the majority of participants 251 (65%) came to Thailand in 2016 for vacation. Most of them preferred to go to the islands, beaches and enjoy the night life in bars. Most of the participants heard about HIV/AIDS; and majority of them had high HIV knowledge level and negative attitude towards HIV/AIDS.

Conclusion: The study found high level of HIV transmission knowledge and some negative HIV/AIDS attitudes among Arab male tourists. Education and HIV prevention programs are recommended for tourists and tourism workers. These findings could aid the development of appropriate international awareness-raising messages to help reduce the gaps in knowledge and misconceptions on HIV/AIDS among tourists.