Fear Thy Neighbor? This Community Wants to Evict a Hospice Housing HIV Patients

More than 440,000 people in Thailand are living with HIV as of 2013, but that isn’t stopping villagers in the small town of Lang Nern from looking to oust a hospice designed to care for patients with the autoimmune disease.

Last month, 133 villagers voted to evict the Glory Hut Foundation—a charity caring for AIDS patients with six months or less to live—in a forum similar to a town meeting. Only 30 people in the community voted in favor of the hospice remaining in its current location, all of whom were health care workers, the Bangkok Post reports.

Thailand has been largely successful at curbing the rate of transmission of HIV and AIDS. In 1990, there were 100,000 new cases of HIV, according to the World Health Organization. Comparatively, the U.S. reached its peak infection rate in the mid-1980s with 130,000 new cases each year—but Thailand’s population clocks in at less than a quarter of America’s head count. Through education and a free condom campaign, that rate has dropped to less than 10,000 new infections in 2013.

But the stigma associated with the syndrome remains rampant. Town members are concerned that they can contract the virus through the air and fear contamination from medical waste, even though HIV and AIDS can only be transmitted through bodily fluids.

This irrational fear has also translated into monetary concerns. The community’s chief, Wichien Weruwan, claims the charity organization’s presence has harmed local business owners, especially those with stakes in real estate. Part of the Chonburi province, the town of about 500 people was once an enticing alternative for those looking for a less-crowded area than neighboring resort town Pattaya.

“Would you want to move into a house next to an HIV foundation? The people who live here want a nice environment,” Sudarat Lunbab, owner of 33 properties, told Reuters.

Although the vote to evict Glory Hut is not legally binding, officials fear violence from the community if the hospice refuses to relocate. Eighteen patients have returned to their own homes, but Glory Hut still houses 25 people who are either too sick to move or have nowhere else to go.

Changing locations is not an option, according to foundation spokeswoman Chanchanok Khamtong—they just don’t have the money to move. The organization has also done its part to make amends with the community, even donating excess goods and offering English lessons to local children.

“We’re not disturbing anybody—we just want to take care of our patients,” said Khamtong.

Since news of Glory Hut’s predicament broke, it’s received some financial assistance from sympathetic Thai and Norwegian business owners, as well as via social media. But officials from the Thai Network of People Living With Aids—which has stepped in to broker understanding and gain trust within the community—want the facility to stay put. Putting the financial burden aside, Network chairman Apiwat Kwangkaew fears the organization will only face similar scrutiny if it moves to another town, The Nation reported.