More than 80,000 young Thais are now suffering from AIDS, Thai Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying Sunday.

There are nearly 20,000 new AIDS victims every year, Sudarat said. By the year 2006, Thailand will have more than one million AIDS sufferers, she warned.

Some 80,000 Thai AIDS patients are between the age of 15 and 24,the majority of them women.

One of the biggest problems is that young Thais do not practise safe-sex. Only one in three young Thais use condoms, according to a recent survey.

Many young Thais are also at risk of other health problems because they do not exercise regularly and they smoke. According to the survey, more than 4 million, or one of four Thai youngsters between 10 and 24, do not exercise at all.

About 1.5 million of them are also regular cigarette smokers. Most youths prefer to watch television and videos and spend most of their time on playing on the computer, according to the survey.

Source: Xinhua