Traditional Thai Medicine: Buddhism, Animism, Ayurveda

I selected this book based primarily on seeking out a more recent copyright dated publication on Thai medicine and with hope that the author would present both a historical and a more recent perspective on how this medical tradition has survived in a world that more often embraces Western convention. The author, C. Peirce Salguero, earned his M.A. in East Asian Studies at the University of Virginia in 2005 and wrote his thesis on the cultural history of Thai medicine. Subsequently, he had his thesis published as this handbook I'm reviewing.I liked the book very much. Although it was originally written for the author to attain his M.A., he did an elegant job of packing in a lot of information within a limited number of pages and did it with a personal and rather humble style of writing that would appeal to the masses and not just those people who are academically minded.Just the same, a point of which both pleased and concerned me was that he gleaned both his modern and traditional impressions of Thai medicine primarily through his experiences at the Shivagakomarpaj Traditional Medicine Hospital in Chiang Mai. Of the four years between 1997 and 2001, he spent a little over two years of his time in Thailand at this hospital, training as a practitioner and teacher of Traditional Thai Medicine (TTM). This hospital, considered one of the most prestigious traditional medical training centers in Northern Thailand, is both a government-licensed school and a community clinic that provides free traditional health-care to the local villages. Although it conveniently provides him with a `one-stop-shop' to gain insight into both modern and traditional influences in medical practice, it is equally limiting to what the school interprets as traditional practices. Dr. Salguero (note: he just received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 2010), even admits that delivering the second part of his handbook's perspective on traditional practices can be dangerous when coming from a single school. Thus, he defends his writing as generalizations and further states that "it can in broad outline be considered a representative example of an institution with TTM tradition." I would have liked to read that he spent as much or more time dedicated to the town villages and the non-literate, non-government influenced practices of the local folk and hill-tribe people. To his credit, I must confess, he does admit that in order to incorporate the folk-practices into his handbook, he relied on his ethnographic observations. That gives his "traditional" medicine theme some increased credibility, in my opinion.A book entitled "Traditional Thai Medicine" carries with it the heavy burden of delivering a comprehensive summary of medical history, existing folk practices, and modern practice influences. That's a lot for someone to tackle with only four years of undergrad at UVa and living in Asia for only four years following, let alone a local scholar with a lifetime of exposure and experiences. It's a book that a person visiting Thailand and interested in medicine could read in less time than it takes to travel from California to Bangkok and small enough to stuff in your satchel for future reference during your stay.

I refer to this book often, as I have a great interest in the subject of Traditional Thai Medicine. It is well written and ultimately gives the reader a sense of the true depth of history behind the medicine that preceded Western culture in Thailand. The tradition that shaped medicine in Thailand exists today and this book opens the reader's eyes to its history, culture, and spirituality. That is what makes Thailand and its traditional medicine so unique.

just as described

If you're interested in this topic enough to look up this book,you need to buy it

Dans le désert livresque sur le sujet, une oasis unique. Les autres ne sont que des points isolés sur des sujets morcelés ou spécifiques.Première synthèse pratique et riche en détails déjà. A quand la traduction française pour les praticiens ou usagers du massage thaï ?