Concepts Integration of Thai Traditional Medicine and Modern Medicine in Healthcare Concept of integration of Thai traditional medicine and modern medicine in health care

Abstract

This academic article aims to present the concept of integrating Thai traditional medicine and modern medicine in efficient and sustainable health care by using local resources with the concept of self-sufficiency economy. The concepts of disease occurrence or cause of disease in Thai traditional medicine and modern medicine are different, Thai traditional medicine depends on the imbalance of the 4 elements in the body whereas modern medicine can diagnose causes of disease in all dimensions. When concepts of Thai traditional medicine and modern medicine are integrated resulting in health care related to treatment and cost savings, for instance, the use of local herbs will take lower costs than using modern medicine imported from abroad. Therefore, concept integration and application to the context of Thai society—use of herbs in treatment, hot compress massage, Thai traditional massage, use of procedures according to traditional Thai medical methods, giving advice on various matters related to illness and health promotion such as self-practice, exercise, dining, behavior modification—as well as using the integration of Thai traditional medicine and modern medicine in disease prevention might help people make sustainable self-care in Thai style.