Traditional Thai Medicine and Thai Massage
An Introduction
Traditional Thai Medicine (TTM) is an officially recognized healing
system alongside modern Western biomedicine
and Traditional Chinese Medicine in Thailand
today. Traditional doctors (mo boran or mo
phaen boran), as defined by the government,
are those "practicing
the healing arts by means of knowledge gained
from traditional texts or study which is not
based on science." This
definition stands in contradistinction to
biomedical doctors, whose training is based
on science.The paths to medical licensure
in each of these arenas are comparable, but
quite separate. Every formally trained TTM
practitioner is required by the government
to study a standardized curriculum, which
typically includes one year of classes to
become a traditional pharmacist and another
two years to become a full physician. The
arts of therapeutic massage (nuad boran or
nuad phaen boran) or traditional midwifery (pradung kahn) can be
taken during a fourth, optional, year. Students graduating from
these programs are examined by the Ministry of Public
Health, and are licensed and regulated by
the national government through a process parallel to that which
regulates medical doctors, nurses, and other practitioners of Western
medicine. A study in 2005 counted 37,157 practitioners in various
branches of TTM, and reported that 83.3% of hospitals, 67.8% of
community centers, and 22.4% of health centers incorporated TTM
to some degree.
Traditional
medicine in Thailand is split into three disciplines: Spiritual
healing, massage, and herbal/dietary medicine. Click on any
below for more introduction...
 Thai
Massage
Dietary
regimens and herbal medicine
Thai
Spiritual Healing
More Information
- TaoMountain's
Member Resource Center - Be
sure to visit our Resource
Center to see articles on Thai medicine
by scholars and practitioners, guides
to practicing Thai customs, TM's Classic
Routine video, on-line versions of Pierce's
books, and more. This is a valuable reference
for practitioners, students, and teachers
of Thai traditional healing.
- Educational Resources -
Books, workbooks, DVDs, CDs, Correspondence
courses, and more!
- TaoMountain's Bookshelf - Bibliography
for further reading on Thai medicine and
related topics. Support our mission by
purchasing books from Amazon through this
page!
- Read
articles about Thai Massage - We have
dozens of articles by academics and practitioners
in our Member Area available in full-text,
but we have made a few articles from popular magazines on Thai massage available here.
- Traditional
Thai Medicine Slideshow - see images
of herbal shops and sacred sites in Thailand
- Free
Newsletter and periodic updates - Sign
up to receive periodic notices on Thai
Herbs, Thai Massage, and Thai Spiritual
Traditions. See links and subscription
options on homepage.
- See links to sites outside TaoMountain here...
History of the Study of Thai Medicine
The study of Thailand is a relatively new field, and the sustained
serious study of Thai medicine has never been undertaken. As part
of my graduate school research, I have over the past 8 years collected
a bibliography of essentially everything that has been written
on Thai medicine in academic English-language sources in the past
4 centuries, from the latest articles in medical journals to ethnographies
dating back as far as the 1600s. (This bibliography is available
in our Resources Section online at www.TaoMountain.org.)
My conclusion from looking at this material is that interest
in Thailand has come in several waves. There was some interest
taken in “Siamese” culture by a group of European
historians in Bangkok who called themselves the Siam Society,
which flourished from the 1800s to the first half of the 1900s.
Unfortunately, much of what they wrote during this period was
condescending and racist, resulting from a colonial mentality
and a focus on “civilizing the savages” with Western
medicine and Protestant Christianity. Serious scholarly interest
developed only after the “rediscovery” of Southeast
Asia as a result of the Vietnam War. Many academics wrote books
and dissertations in the 1970s and 1980s (many of these came out
of the Australian National University’s doctoral program
in Anthropology). These scholars contributed enormously to our
knowledge about Thailand, but their passion unfortunately did
not extend to the next generation of scholars and the entire field
of Thai traditional medical studies has virtually disappeared.
There are currently very few scholars writing on this subject,
the few exceptions being Scott Bamber and Penny van Esterik.
From reviewing the materials, I have seen that there is a common
misconception that Thai medicine is synonymous with Indian Ayurveda,
Chinese medicine, or a combination of the two. I believe that
this is a fundamental problem hindering the study of Thai medicine
today. Sadly, our popular culture is much more interested in China
and India, and we tend to see everything Asian through a lens
of yin/yang, doshas, and Tibetan Buddhism—even when these
do not apply!
The fundamental problem facing the study of Thai medicine today
is the roadblock put up and then reinforced by assuming Thai culture
is largely Chinese, Indian, or a combination of both. Many have
assumed that Thai medicine is a “corrupted form” of
other Asian systems. I believe this is a mistake which devalues
the tradition and does a disservice not only to Western students,
but more importantly, to the priceless cultural heritage of the
Thai people. The fact of the matter is that we must begin to look
at Thai medicine as an indigenous system, complete, whole, and
adequate in and of itself. We must look into the indigenous philosophies,
practices, and beliefs that characterize Thai medicine, and refuse
to compromise them in favor of Indian and Chinese or Western alternatives
simply because these are more familiar to us.
Where Do We Go from Here?
Certain elements of Thai medicine, particularly Thai massage,
are obviously becoming quite popular, and we have unfortunately
already seen attempts to capitalize on this fact—and not
always with the best intentions. In order to ensure the continuing
integrity of the practice of Thai medicine, I believe the first
priority for Thai medical studies should be to identify elements
that are authentically Thai, and to separate ourselves from the
intellectual dishonesty of hybridizing Thai techniques with Indian
and Chinese. This is so dangerous, not only because it turns a
unique cultural gem into yet another marketable commodity, but
also because it completely misrepresents the tradition in the
process.
I mentioned above the extensive bibliography I have compiled.
Nowhere among this material is a complete authoritative translation
into English of any of the following:
- The Wat Po manuals - the central
texts of Thai herbal medicine to this day
- The King Narai Manuscript – the
oldest known herbal text, dating from the
Ayutthaya period (17th century)
- The massage epigraphs – Wat
Pho’s famous stone tablets and accompanying
inscriptions describing massage techniques
- Current training manuals of the traditional
medicine programs at any 4-year licensed
traditional Thai medicine program
The reality is that, without more of these basic translations,
we do not know enough about Thai medicine… No wonder misconceptions
abound!
The fragments of the above that have been translated (by Jean
Mulholland for example, who did a lot of this work) show that
Thai medicine is very clearly indigenous. Before we simply relegate
Thai medicine to being a form of Indian or Chinese medicine, we
need to do some real research into the Thai tradition to increase
our understanding of it. A serious effort needs to be made across
the industry in this direction.
|
 The
Father Doctor Shivagakomarpaj presiding over
the Chiang Mai traditional medical hospital
that bears his name.
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