Nitisak Toniti
Panyapiti Institute, Mae Hong Son
Recently, health management in the Karen Tribe has changed from being based on beliefs, rituals and herbal use. The case study, ‘Instruction in Ya Prak Salawin Learning Center’ shows that the major phenomena that have impacted the health of the community are: 1) changes in diet from the past when most food was from nature, but now more food is provided from the city; 2) a decrease in plants and animals from more than 90 species that used to be the major supply of the community; 3) a decrease of crop sequencing because of a lack of labor (youth move to work and study outside) and the land being used to grow more economic crops such as Karen Chili; and 4) health care relying more on hospitals and village health volunteers (VHV). This study collects the experience of using the forest advantageously, including the use of herbs from local indigenous knowledge. The result shows that the community has been using 66 kinds of herb for 13 symptom treatment.
From the situation mentioned, the living quality of the Karen Tribe is dependent on natural resources, which relates to their food system, their sense of self-reliance and their way of earning a living. Thus, Ya Prak Salawin Learning Center aims to use indigenous knowledge-based instruction, along with modern science, in order to manage local natural resource effectively with related organizations.
(Presented in the 2017 Chulalongkorn Thai-Tai Heritage Forum: Healing and Herbal Medicine (การรักษาโรคกับการใช้ยาสมุนไพรในวัฒนธรรมไทย-ไท), 22-23 June 2017, Le Meridien Chiang Mai Hotel, Chiang Mai, organized by the Empowering Network for International Thai and ASEAN Studies, Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Lanna Studies Center, Faculty of humanities ,Chiang Mai University and Thai Language Department, School of Liberal Arts Mae Fah Luang University)