The Thai Situation in Bioethics Soraj Hongladarom Department of Philosophy Chulalongkorn University

Presented at the International Conference on Dialogue and Promotion of Bioethics in Asia, Manila Diamond Hotel, The Philippines, October, 2002

Awareness and Understanding l Bioethics is a new topic for Thai people. l The level of awareness and understanding naturally varies with the level of education, which means that it is rather unsatisfactory.

Popular Perception l Nonetheless, there have been many cases of popular perception of the issue. l One way to gauge a people’s attitude toward social issue is through the arts. l One example is the novel, Amata, by Wimon Sainimnuan.

Most Prominent Issues and Controversies l Amata deals with human cloning. l It features the conflict between Buddhism and egoistic desires found in the attempt to clone oneself. l Buddhism is aligned with the resistance of globalization, while cloning is with the other side.

GMOs l Another hard fought area concerns genetically modified organisms. l Many NGO’s are active in campaigning against the use of products made of GMO’s. l They charge the transnational companies of ‘double standard.’

National Institutions l Regulatory bodies: -Ministry of Agriculture -National Research Council l However, regulation is still rather weak. l Promotional bodies: -National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) -National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC)

Civic Groups l BioThai -Chief NGO campaigning against GMOs and other technologies perceived to be harmful. l Thailand Environment Institute -Chief NGO for the environment, mostly conducing research and studies.

Research Institutions l Universities -Research on ethical and social implications of biotechnology is still at the beginning. -Center for the Study of Science, Technology, and Society, Chulalongkorn University l Other Research Institutes

Current Status: Research on Human Subject l Various universities have ethical review boards. l Funding agencies also have requirements meeting international standards. l Popular perception is not a big issue.

Organ Transplantation l Apart from the guidelines set up by the IRBs, this is not a big issue in Thailand. l People appears to be concerned more with the purpose for which organ transplantation is done rather than the rightness or wrongness of the act per se.

Abortion l This is a no no. l Thai law allows abortion in only three cases: -rape -fetus endangering mother’s life -fetus severely handicapped l Popular perception is very much against it. l But still there are hundreds of thousands of cases each year.

Assisted Reproduction l This is also not a big issue. l What people are concerned is the cost of doing so, which allows only the rich to have it while the poor are excluded.

Embryo Research l Buddhism teaches that life begins with conception. l Hence many are against the use of embryos for other purposes. (This is in accordance with the dictum: Never use a human being as a means.)

Euthanasia l Buddhism teaches that deliberately taking life is wrongful. l But it also recognizes that to be worth living is to be able to function independently and that death is a natural part of life which is not be avoided at all costs.

HIV/AIDS l Intensive campaigns have made Thailand one of the most advanced countries in terms of recognition of the dignity of AIDS victims as well as being open about the problems. l AIDS patients are viewed more as victims rather than moral transgressors.

Education in Bioethics l Chulalongkorn University does not have a separate course of instruction in bioethics. l Medical faculty has its own ิ medical ethics ี course, which focuses more on code of conduct. l Philosophy department traditionally focuses on theory of ethics. l But this is changing.

GMO Food l This is a very big controversy, as I have said before. l It seems to many that the issue does not concern scientific risks as much as business interests of the transnational corporations and the livelihood of Third world farmers.

Genetic Research l As with organ transplantation, this is not a big issue in Thailand. l However, institutional review boards do have a guideline on this issue following internationally accepted standard.

Buddhism l As a Buddhist country, Thai people typically turns to Buddhism when faced with bioethical dilemmas. l However, Buddhism does not have a specific set of answers; one has to interpret the teaching in order to find solutions. l Buddhism is more concerned with the motifs of doing the act rather than the act itself.