Cabbages and Condoms

Can you think of a link between rubber, cabbages, condoms, Thailand, Khun Mechai Viravaidya and Tiger Woods?

Well if you are on the button this morning you might well answer that Thailand is the worlds largest rubber producer and that they are also one of the leading manufacturers of condoms, made from domestically produced rubber.  You might also know that Durex, the worlds leading condom producer has a huge factory in Thailand and that the combined output of all the condom factories based in Thailand is some 2.4 billion pieces each year. OK you might not have known the last bit but its a fact anyway.

So that takes care of rubber, condoms and Thailand for now, but what about Khun Mechai Viravaidya, Tiger Woods and cabbages? Well the first person sounds Thai by the name and you probably all know that Tiger Woods is half Thai. But more of him later. As for cabbages well if you don’t know you will have to read on.

Let me tell you about Khun Mechai Viravaidya, sometimes referred to as Mr Condom in Thailand, who you may not be familiar with. He is indeed Thai well just like Tiger he is actually half Thai, and quite a well known person too. I first came across him back in 2005 when I was on holiday in Thailand,  part of which included a trek in the hills near the northern cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

Well to be honest I didn’t actually meet the man himself, but I did eat at a restaurant in Chiang Rai called,  Cabbages and Condoms, which he founded as part of his work through the Thai NGO, The Population and Community Development Association(PDA). Given that the organisation was founded to promote family planning and safe sex through the use of condoms its perhaps not surprising how Khun Mechai got his somewhat unusual title. Nowadays there are Cabbages and Condoms restaurants in several different places in Thailand including Bangkok and Pattaya.

If you pay a visit to any of the restaurants, besides finding excellent affordable Thai food, you will also find that they “promote the health and safety aspects of condom use in a fun and amusing manner.” One of which is to offer you a condom in place of your after dinner mint as you are leaving. While the restaurants also boast ” our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy.”

All the profits from “Cabbages and Condoms” are ploughed back into the PDA to help the NGO fund different community based projects in Thailand.

So what about Tiger Woods? Well remember the slogan of CC, to “promote the health and safety aspects of condom use in a fun and amusing manner.” Just take a look at this photograph of the said golfer in mannequin form, featured at one of the CC outlets. Certainly “sanuk” in my opinion.

See if you can figure out why he’s there, apart from him being half Thai Need a clue, well think back to earlier this year!

You will find lots of similar condom art at all the Cabbages and Condom restaurants which I am sure will lead to some interesting conversation over lunch or when you take a drink in the aptly named “Cops and Rubbers,” bar.

Sources:

Cabbages and Condoms Restuarant (including images used in this post)

CNNgo Bangkok

Population and Community Development Association

If you are interested in the work of the PDA you might like to follow Mechai Viravaidya on Twitter.

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1. Thai Tiger Challenge