Aids and HIV cases are mounting on the island, the Koh Municipality said. At a ceremony marking World Aids Day recently, Samui’s deputy mayor Suraphong Viriyanon said that from 2006 to 2008, 519 people were found HIV positive on the island.

Of this number, he said, 236 developed full-blown Aids.

The simple World Aids Day ceremonies was held at the meeting room of the Koh Samui Municipality office on Dec. 1.

The event featured a number of activities, including lectures and a seminar.

In his speech, Suraphong said most of these HIV cases were brought to the island by visitors.

The municipality, he said, would launch aggressive information campaigns to minimize, if not eliminate, the spread of Aids on Samui.

The target groups of these information drives would be young people, students and people working in the hospitality industry.

“We need to make people aware of the dangers Aids poses to their wellbeing. We need them to basically know how to protect themselves from this dreaded disease,” Suraphong said..