Dept, university join hands on herb app

The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine has joined hands with its academic partner in Bangkok to develop an application that promotes good health using Thai traditional medicine and herbs.

It will serve as a learning platform, especially on the topic of how to use herbs for self-medical treatment.

The department and King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok inked an MoU to develop Smart Healthcare TTM to educate people on how to access and tap into the wisdom of Thai traditional medicine.

Department chief, Dr Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, said they will work together to research and develop the healthcare platform under the banner of knowledge-based herbs and Thai traditional medicine in line with the country's "digital economy" plans.

"The academic team is in charge of developing the management of digital Thai traditional medicine knowledge by filing data related to Thai herbs and traditional medicine derived from avenues such as inscribed ancient paper and stone, making sure the data is available in a digital knowledge-based form," he said.

"The team will also help develop Thai traditional medicine and expert recommendation systems, helping language experts translate ancient language pertaining to Thai traditional medicine more easily and effectively."

He said the team would provide data for Thai herbs and Thai medicine products to support and promote the country's economic growth, activated by wisdom around traditional medicine products. And finally, the team will develop the application so that it is accessible to ordinary people.

"The department has engaged in a mission to develop, promote and organise knowledge-based Thai herbs and traditional medicine to protect the country's wisdom of medicine. It has set up many related applications to promote better health, such as the Thai herb application, the Thai massage application, a cannabis application and more," Dr Thongchai said.

Suchart Siengchin, president of King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, said it is a great opportunity to develop human resources and build digital innovations to promote the beneficial use of Thai herbs and traditional medicines.