Over the past decades, government agencies have renewed their interest in traditional Thai medicine and Thai medicinal plants. This is probably a direct repercussion from the World Health Organization (WHO) conference on indigenous medicines held in 1977. The following year the WHO issued an announcement of Alma Ata urging member countries tto do their utmost to preserve their national heritage in the form of ethnomedicine and to include the use of medicinal plans into their primary health care systems.
In 1979, the Ministry of Public Health, in response to the WHO’s call for the revival of indigenous medicines, recommended a strategy on the development of primary health care to be included into the Fourth National Economic and Social Development Plan (1977-1981). The ministry was also responsible for appointing a committee called “The National Committee on the Development of Thai Medicinal Plans” presently “The National Committee on Thai Medicinal Plants”, to study ways and means of integrating the use of herbal drugs into community activities. In the same year, Mahidol University Hosted a seminar on indigenous Thai medicine culminating in a recommendation for the promotion and development of traditional Thai inedicine via the integration of both systems of medicine as well as promotion of herbal drug usage.
In 1980, the National Economic and Social Development Board commissioned the Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University to conduct a study on the strategies for the development of Thai medicinal plants. This resulted in the recommendation of the following strategies to be carried out :
1. The development of Thai medicinal plants for use in primary health care.;
2. The development of Thai medicinal plants for use in traditional and modern drug industries;
3. The development of Thai medicinal plants as strategic supplies in case of war; and
4. The development of Thai medicinal plants for export.
In 1981, the government made a commitment to survey and implement the use of raw material from indigenous sources for the local drug industry in order to be self-sufficient. Research on the efficacy and safety of traditional drugs was also conducted so that they could be employed in primary health care. In order to realize these goals, a new division was set up under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Health. The division, known as “the Medicinal plans and Traditional Medicine section”, was directly responsible for the promotional and supporting activities relating to the use of medicinal plans and traditional Thai medicine in primary health care.
The year 1982 was another turning point for traditional Thai medicine, in that a foundation called “The Foundation for the Promotion of Traditional Thai Medicine” was established by Professor Dr. Ouy Ketusingh. Its objectives were to revive, promote and upgrade traditional Thai medicine, as well as to promote the research and usage of medicinal plants. The foundation also set up the “Ayurved-Vidyalaya” (Chewaka Komarapaj) in order to train a new class of traditional practitioners who not only possessed skills in traditional medicine but were also knowledgeable in modern diagnostic procedures.
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