The Public Health Ministry is ramping up efforts to promote traditional wellness and medicine as a tourist attraction to help generate more income for the country.
Santi Promphat, deputy minister of public health, said yesterday that Thailand is known for its outstanding traditional medical wisdom and use of herbal plants.
Mr Santi was giving a speech on traditional and alternative Thai medicine during the ministry's annual policy communicative meeting.
He said three wellness elements -- traditional cuisine, local herbal plants, and traditional massage -- have been selected to be promoted as soft power initiatives by the government.
For cuisine and local herbs, Mr Santi said the ministry has several projects, including the Wellness and Healthy Cuisine Kick-Off Expo in Phetchabun district and a list of 15 "Herbal Champion" plants.
For traditional massage, Mr Santi said that the ministry has trained up to about 30,000 traditional masseurs, but the demand for certified massage therapists is still high.
Dr Taweesin Wisanuyothin, acting as director of the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine (DTAM), said the ministry has set a target to produce 5,000 masseurs via its training programmes within six months.
The plan to train more masseurs is one of DTAM's two main policies as part of the plan to elevate Thai traditional and alternative medicine. The other is a service plan focusing on promoting traditional medicine to be used more widely by the public, said Dr Taweesin.