He says factory workers faced the highest risk.

"Most of the workers lack information on prevention and they lead risky lifestyles such as getting drunk and indulging in unsafe sex," he says

According to the Department of Disease Control's 2007 survey on 9,019 workers between the ages of 15 and 49 in 18 provinces, 18 per cent of the males had slept with sex workers, and of these, only 57 per cent had used condoms. Five per cent of the males had had sex with other males and of these, only 31 per cent had used protection.

The survey also showed that about 6 per cent of the female workers had sex, and only 21 per cent had used condoms. Most of the females said they trusted their partners, while some said they were afraid to ask their partner to use condoms. The survey also found that only 30 per cent of the male workers and 39 per cent of the female workers went to see the doctor for venereal disease.

Illegal abortion clinic raided

A forensic police officer was dismissed yesterday after being arrested in Songkhla's Hat Yai district for illegally performing abortions on young women.

Police arrested Colonel Dr Somchai Trimathurakul from the Police General Hospital on Sunday evening. Police will also check his other clinic in Khon Kaen for any illegal activity.

Meanwhile, Jitra Kochadet, a committee member of the Textile Industry's Workers Federation, urged abortion to be covered under the social security system's medical care scheme, rather than make people risk their lives in illegal and unhygienic procedures.

She said illegal abortion was on the rise partly due to difficulty of low-wage earners to raise children or because of premature sex.