Parents in Thailand have always been outspoken against premarital sex. Despite this stance, the problem of pregnancy outside marriage continues. The current abortion law in Thailand states that a woman may undergo an abortion only if the pregnancy would endanger the woman's health or if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest. But, as is typical of most countries where abortion is illegal or restricted, women seek and find places to have illegal abortions.

Exact numbers are impossible to obtain. Even though abortion is contrary to the principles of Buddhism (the religion of nearly 95% of the Thai population), evidence suggests that many Thai people view abortion as a supplementary means of birth control. According to Public Health Ministry statistics, the teen abortion rate in Thailand is as high as 16.2 per 1,000 births.

If that were not disturbing enough, the “morning after pill” has also been easily accessible for the last 15 years, and some clinic workers have reported women routinely using up to ten pills in a month to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

During a workshop on sex education in Thailand, 100 participants were asked what society teaches children about sex. Here are two age-old sayings that are still being taught to young people:

• Men are like grains of rice (that can grow anywhere they fall), but women are like cooked rice (which can go bad). In other words, men are better, and their promiscuity is endorsed.
• Girls must “rak nuan sa-nguan tua” (remain pure), while it is okay for boys to “hua hok gon kwid” (be promiscuous).

GNPI-Thailand, operating under the name, Freedom Films, has responded to this with Path of Decision, the first feature-length project for the Thailand team. At the heart of the story is a young, single girl who is pregnant and faced with the decision to abort or choose life for her unborn baby.

This movie was taken from the GNPI screenplay called Tough Choices but was totally rewritten for the Thai audience. Numerous cultural differences made it necessary to rewrite the script. This project is essentially an entirely new movie, but still contains many teaching elements of the original screenplay.

Path of Decision was approached with a great deal of prayer. One key concern was actors. Would they be able to get into character and hit the heart issues of this generation? Prayers were answered! While filming, at times in over 110-degree heat, powerful scenes were viewed by guests on the set. Imagine looking around after the director yelled, “Cut!” and seeing tears streaming down faces. To change lives, hearts need to be touched, and in those days during filming it was evident that through God’s wonderful grace, hearts were indeed being impacted.

The center in Thailand wanted to make the churches and ministers in Thailand aware that this movie will soon be available to help them reach out to youth about living a holy and godly lifestyle. The team worked on a nationwide mailing that went to more than 800 contacts. They are also developing contacts with other youth mission organizations aiming at a broader distribution.