In our current era we have a near endless choice of ways in which to look after ourselves and maintain good health. When we get sick there are hospitals of different types that offer highly specialised and efficient treatment and care, so our chances of recovery are good.
GOING POTTY: Products inside a traditional medicine shop, including clay pots for brewing herbal remedies.
If we look back 50 or 60 years we can feel relief that we have put that period behind us, and that we have come to know better ways of maintaining or restoring good health. But many people of the current generation have also been turning back to some of the old methods and finding them effective.
For example, when brushing their teeth in the morning, Thais of half a century or so ago would use a powder called Wisetniyom, which had a scent that came from a mixture of different medicinal herbs. It left the mouth feeling clean and fresh, a sensation that lasted for hours. When toothpaste in tubes from abroad was introduced to Thailand, Wisetniyom tooth powder came to seem old fashioned, but today there are Thai factories manufacturing toothpaste in tubes that use a herbal formula similar to that of the old powder, and it has become popular with users who like the sensation it leaves.
Years ago, one way that Thais dealt with the heat during the summer was to drink ice water with a few drops of pink Nam Yaa Uthai added to it. It had a distinctive fragrance and was more refreshing than plain ice water. Lately it has been coming back as a way of countering the even worse heat that we are enduring now.
In the past, the way to deal with a bad stomach caused by eating questionable food was to take a product called Krisanaklan, which included mai krisana (aloeswood or eagle wood) among its ingredients. After swallowing, it would cause a sensation of heat from the throat down to the stomach, but was very effective in treating a stomach ache and its accompanying symptoms.
To treat dizziness, Thais of a couple of generations ago would drink yaa hawm, made by mixing a medicinal powder with warm water. The most famous brand was called Maw Mee. For a cough, the thing to take was a product called Yokee.
According to Chinese belief, canker sores in the mouth were caused by excess heat in the body, a condition called rawn nai. The way to set the balance straight and get rid of the sores was to drink a bitter brew with the brand name of Nam Tao Thong, which was believed to reduce the heat. It offered sufferers the choice of either putting up with the mouth sores or enduring the withering bitterness of the medicine. Or they could dodge both options and be cured by rubbing a Chinese liquid medicine on them, and after a single night the canker sores would be better.
These are a few examples of ways in which Thais of the past gave themselves basic health care. Today, there are many people who still like to use these same products and techniques. To relieve painful symptoms they turn to doctors who practise Thai traditional medicine and use old-fashioned medication as a first choice before going for treatment at a clinic or hospital.
There are a number of stores that people rely on for buying traditional medicines. Today I would like to take a look at one of them, located at Amphoe Photharam in Ratchaburi. It has retained the character of the old traditional medicine shops of the past, and offers a wide variety of old-fashioned products.
It is called Lim Yong An Tueng, and is run by Phanphaka Ratanaaksonsin, the second generation owner, who explained that traditional medicine is basically herbal medicine. She said that, nowadays, pharmacists who sell these medicines must study traditional pharmacology at a school overseen by the Public Health Ministry.
Her shop offers both Thai and Chinese traditional medicines, a knowledge of which in her father’s day required the ability to read Chinese. When a doctor of traditional medicine, either Thai or Chinese, has examined a patient and is certain of the cause of his condition, he will write a prescription that includes many herbal ingredients. These must all be weighed individually according to the specification in the prescription and then wrapped for the customer.
The buyer must then purchase a special pot to prepare the medicine by boiling it with water. Only a clay pot can be used, nothing metallic.
Some types of medicinal ingredients must be chopped very fine, mixed with honey, and formed into pills for the purchaser. Khun Phanphaka still uses the old methods now, although she cannot read Chinese. Doctors who practise Chinese medicine must rely on translators to translate instructions for using the herbal medicines into Thai.
Besides the medicines compounded at the shop there are also ready-made ones produced in factories that are registered with the Public Health Ministry. The shops that sell them have to have a good knowledge of how they are to be used, in what quantities, and to treat which conditions, to explain to their customers.
In addition to herbal medicines, Chinese pharmacies of this kind also sell certain ingredients used as seasonings in cooking. They offer special packets of seasonings for Chinese-style stewed chicken, duck or pork, for example, that include salt, coarse sugar and a sour component.
What can the shop do if the medicines and seasonings are almost sold out? Not a problem, because in Bangkok there is a central clearing house that can supply them all on Chakkrawat Road.
Staff will travel to take orders from traditional Chinese medicine shops in different towns and cities and dispatch the medicines via public transport. Then, about a month later, the same salesperson will revisit the shop that placed the order to collect payment and any additional orders that the shop might place. This system ensures that the medicines and seasonings aren’t likely to run out for long.
Health care is another segment of contemporary Thai life where a glance backward at the way things were done in the past can turn up useful ideas. Not all that many survive that are superior to modern techniques and remedies, but those that can bring relief remain.
JUST THE PRESCRIPTION: Commercially prepared Chinese medicines: Wisetniyom toothpaste, a liquid to apply to canker sores, Yokhee cough remedy, Mahahing medicine to rub on a sick child’s stomach, Krisanaklan to treat an upset stomach and Nam Yaa Uthai to make iced water more refreshing.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.