Traditional Chinese Medicine and Healthcare Options in the Globalization Era

Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a medical science with a long history of thousands of years and has been one of the most important and popular alternative medical disciplines in Thailand. TCM plays an important role in health work as it has an extensive treatment scope and low cost of treatment. It is also suitable for social and economic conditions in the globalization era. The science of TCM is unique in (1) the concept of a holistic view of health, which emphasizes the importance of being a holistic body of organs and tissues throughout the body as well as their relationship with nature, and (2) the treatment according to disease classification, based on a combination of four examination methods to find disease-causing factors, disease characteristics, location of the disease and disease mechanism analysis. With the distinctive identity of TCM that is different from other sciences, its popularity and use as alternative medicine for healthcare among of the Thai people have been rising. In the Thai public health services, TCM has been adopted with a focus on two areas: disease prevention and health promotion, using specific TCM techniques and practices such as guasha, cupping, acupuncture and electrical stimulation, etc., in order to contribute to people's good health in the changing era of globalization.