Page 75 - Proceedings of The Fifth Meeting of Indigenous Medicine in the Mekong Basin

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6.2 Mr. Sombat Wongkhum

Hometown: Lob Buri Province
Ethnic group represented: Thai
Years of practice: 30 years
Area of expertise: bone setting, bone fracture healing, the
treatment of paraplegia, paralysis, and shoulder and neck pain,
and bone disease.
Previous award or recognition received: Registered and
licensed as practitioner of the art of healing in the branch of
Thai traditional medicine (B.E.2553)
Educational background and work experience:-
Knowledge transfer: He learned the iron patting and massage
for treating broken bones, paraplegia, paralysis, and the
treatment of shoulder and neck pain, and bone diseases from
Master Meng, the famous folk healer. At the age of 78, he has
two successors; one of them is his son-in-law who usually comes to help him at clinic on the
weekends.
Treatment process:
First, the folk healer will diagnose a health problem in
the patient by questioning, body examination, or
observing the physical appearance of the patient. In
case of paraplegia or paralysis, he will start
massaging from the lower part to the upper part of
body in order to open the wind gate and release the
muscle tension. After that, he will say a prayer, spit
the magical water on the patient, then pat the hot iron
on the stove, use the heat from his hands to massage
around the pain or paralyzed area. Lastly, the hot
herbal compress will be applied to the affected areas of
the body. The massage duration depends on the case;
the treatment of normal case will take about 1 hour, but
the paraplegia or paralysis case will be 2 hours. He
also has the herbal medicine as oral medication.
According to his advice, the patient with paraplegia or
paralysis should avoid all fermented food.
Related rite/ritual: After recovering for 3 days, the patient must offer “Kwan Khao” to the
folk healer. Kwan Khao comprises of money (1.50 baht), 2 pieces of Chinese moon cake, 3
white flowers, joss sticks and candle; or else. It is believed that if the patient does not
perform this ritual, bad thing will happen to him/her.
Similarly, it is considered bad for folk healer to keep
Kwan Khao for himself. It is a custom for the folk healer
to offer Kwan Khao received to the monk.
Professional attitude: He is very proud to be able to
reduce people’s suffering.
Showcase summary: He demonstrated the treatment
of paraplegia due to the high blood pressure. First he
started massaging from the legs upwards to open the
wind gate. After finishing this step, he said the prayer,
patted the hot iron on the stove and then gave the massage to the paralyzed area.