EDITORIAL: Ancient medicine on the mend

The Nation
Bangkok
22 Aug 2005 

Ignored for too long as we came to rely on Western healthcare, holisticThai healing arts find renewed vigour. Mainstream Thai society is finally renewing interest in traditional medicine that has been around for centuries but has been neglected in recent times.

It’s part of the back-to-nature trend that is becoming all the rage in many parts of the world. Thailand has wholeheartedly embraced Western medicine in the name of modernisation over the past century at the expense of its own traditional medicine. Modern medicine, backed by scientific research, has widely been seen as more reliable and effective in curing diseases and enhancing health. However, while traditional medicine had been relegated to the fringe, it has never really gone away thanks to the strong attachment of rural communities to folk wisdom in general and traditional healing methods in particular.

This has allowed age-old healing methods, particularly those influenced by India’s ayurvedic tradition, Chinese medicine and the indigenous medical practices of Cambodia, Laos and Burma, to pass down from generation to generation, although not in a systematic way.

The highly fragmented body of knowledge of Thai traditional medicine has staged a comeback only in the past decade or so, spearheaded by the growing popularity of traditional Thai massage, a therapeutic method that resonates well with urban people stressed out by hectic modern lifestyles. The boom in traditional Thai massage, which along with Thai food has taken the world by storm, has also generated renewed interest in traditional medicinal plants.

The Public Health Ministry deserves much of the credit for the revival of traditional medicine and for setting up the Department for the Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine. The department is tasked with the development of the technical aspects of Thai traditional and alternative medicine in order to protect, conserve and promote it and with establishing standards comparable with those of modern medicine. Major hospitals in Bangkok and elsewhere now commonly offer a wide range of Thai herbal medicines and Thai massages, plus other alternative therapies and Chinese acupuncture. Thailand’s renewed interest in its traditional medicine is not motivated only by a high-minded resolve to preserve its national heritage and the real benefits it offers. There is also a huge potential for moneymaking in capitalising on traditional and alternative medicine.

For example, traditional Thai massage and its offshoot Thai-style health spas stand to greatly promote Thailand as an Asian hub for medicine and healthcare, which could annually generate hundreds of billions of baht in income as well as tens of thousands of new jobs.

The global phenomenon of new-age lifestyles continues proliferating. According to the World Health Organisation, more than 50 per cent of people in Europe, North America and other industrialised regions say they have used complementary or alternative medicine at least once. In San Francisco, London and South Africa, 75 per cent of people living with HIV/Aids or other terminal illnesses rely on traditional medicine. The global market for herbal medicines is currently more than US$60 billion (Bt2.47 trillion) annually and growing steadily. Now that traditional medicine has shifted from marginal status to a recognised role as complementary or alternative healing, it’s time to pay attention to traditional healthcare-providers who have gained their mastery of healing, herb selection and cultivation through generations of ancestors or teachers.

The Ministry of Public Health is expected to complete standardising to ensure the quality of traditional Thai massages and spa treatments later this year. But there is a lot of work to be done. The Public Health Ministry still has to make new laws and revise existing ones to better protect and promote Thai traditional medicine. The ministry should also conduct research studies in order to develop and transfer knowledge and technologies as well as establish and develop quality and safety standards.

The Public Health Ministry has done a good job of promoting traditional medicine thus far. It’s time the government put its money where its mouth is to make sure that Thailand realises its full potential of seamlessly integrating traditional and modern medicine so as to better the health of its citizens, generate income and make an important contribution to the world.