PDA is a non-governmental organization. It was establis hed in the year 1974 by Mr. Mechai Viravaidya “ who is also sometimes referred to as Mr. Condom or the Condom King.
In 1974, Mechai made it his personal mission to address Thailands population growth rate.
In 1974 Thailands population of 40 million was growing at a rate of 3 percent per year. You might ask “ So what? In order to illustrate this better, it might be best to transpose Population Growth Rate to Population Doubling Time.
A 3% growth rate translates to a doubling time of only 27 years. That means that Thailands population of 40 million would double in 27 years. If nothing was done in 1974 Thailands population today would be around 85 million and would redouble every 27 years.
Can you imagine if this was happening to a country like China or India?
So immediately, you realize the urgency of having a population growth control project. PDA in 1974 started what became one of the largest Private-Sector led family planning program this kingdom every witnessed. At the height of our family planning program, we had recruited a total of 12,000 family planning volunteers. This army of volunteers was serving no less than 16,000 villages.
Therefore, we are not embarrassed to say that PDA has substantially contributed to lowering the Kingdoms population growth rate. Today, Thailands population is about 66 million. The estimated growth rate today is 0.6%.
What does this mean? It means that the population is STILL growing but the doubling time has been pushed back to more than 100 years. During the next decade, it is possible that the countrys population could decline.
Today, PDA still supports family planning activities through its 20 Branch Offices, and centers scattered in literally all corners of the kingdom.
The range of activities implemented by PDA has become diversified. Today, Family planning is but just a small portion of the multitude of activities we implement.
While we aare tempted to tell you a bit more about the other activities PDA implements through its centers, it might take me a few days just to start scratching the surface. Visit our website instead. In our website, you can learn more about the activities we implement at Chiang Rai and at our different centers around Thailand.
If you have any questions, please send us an EMAIL. We would be very happy to answer any of your inquiries. Thank you.