—Systemic change begins with personal change—
Founder and Board Chairman of the Population & Community Development Association
Mechai Viravaidya, also known as "the condom king," is Thailand's famous fighter for family planning and safe sex. A health economist from a wealthy family and the founder of the Population and Community Development Association, Mechai is best known for his use of humor and unorthodox methods in focusing the public's attention on public health. In the 1970s and '80s, when he was working to reduce Thailand's rapid population growth, he conceived condom-blowing contests and programs for taxi drivers to hand out condoms to their fares. Diners at his Cabbages & Condoms restaurants get a plate of condoms instead of mints after their meals. He even persuaded Buddhist monks to sprinkle holy water on condoms, all in an effort to demystify this simple piece of rubber and encourage the Thai people to use it.
Mechai had a pivotal role in Thailand’s immensely successful family planning program, which saw one of the most rapid fertility declines in the modern era. The rate of annual population growth in Thailand declined from over 3% in 1974 to 0.6% in 2005, and the average number of children per family fell from seven to under two. Mechai Viravaidya also pioneered and championed many of Thailand’s social mobilization and community development efforts that are now taken for granted.
In the last two decades, Mechai has again deployed his condom campaign to combat AIDS in Thailand. The country's notorious sex-trade industry could have easily spawned a horrific epidemic. At first the government was resistant to Mechai's assertion that the police needed to work with commercial sex workers and drug addicts to reduce the spread of the HIV virus. "In the beginning, yes, but we had to hit them over the head," he says. The charismatic and popular Cabinet minister was hard to ignore. With the help of Mechai's resourcefulness and imaginative prodding, Thailand now boasts one of the lowest birthrates in Asia, and the spread of HIV infection has also slowed considerably. Further testament to his success: "Mechai" is now slang for "condom" in the Thai language.
Mechai is now turning his attention toward a fight against political corruption, but he recently stated: "Most important of all is poverty alleviation, which is number one, and then the role of women. Women are very, very important in the development process. When you have two brilliant arms, why use only one?"
I consider Mechai Viravaidya my top role model for sustainability leadership. As I described in a recent episode, We Can Dance Around Environmental Problems All We Want. We Eventually Reach Overpopulation and Overconsumption. Before learning of Mechai Viravaidya, I knew only of China's One Child Policy and eugenics. I couldn't talk about population when I thought the cure was worse than the disease. Learning of Mechai changed everything. As his biography's back cover, states. In Thailand, a condom is called a "Mechai". Mechai Viravaidya, Thailand's condom King, has used this most anatomically suggestive contraceptive device to turn the conventional family planning establishment on its head. First came condom-blowing contests, then T-shirts with condom shrouded anthropomorphic penises. Then condom key rings followed by a Cabbages and Condoms restaurant, When it comes to condoms, no one has been more creative than the Condom King. To equate Mechai with condoms or family planning alone underestimates the man and fails to capture his essence. Mechai Viravaidya is engaged in a relentless pursuit to improve the well-being of the poor by giving them the tools to lead a fruitful and productive life. His achievements in family planning, AIDS prevention, and rural development are a means to an end - the alleviation of poverty in Thailand. Mechai's journey From Condoms To Cabbages - from his roots in family planning to his goal of poverty alleviation - has spanned 34 years. Along the way, he has been labeled a visionary iconoclast and cheerful revolutionary. He is also an ordinary man from modest origins. He made the cure more fun than the disease, along with peers in other nations, including Costa Rica, South Korea, Iran, Mexico, and other nations. You may hear my tongue-tied in this conversation because of the reverence I hold for him. I cover him at length in the manuscript for my next book. When I host Oprah, I expect I'll do fine in comparison. I could write more about him, but I recommend learning more of him from all the resources below.