I wish to express my gratitude to the Thai National Research Council for permission to conduct this research, and to Dr Prawase Wasi, my advisor on their behalf, for his constant encouragement and inspiration. I am also extremely grateful to the following: Phra Maha Narong Cittasobhano, Dr Somboon Suksamran, Dr Surakiat Achananuparp, Dr W. J. Klausner, Ajan Netnapa Kumtong, Dr Sulak Sivaraksa, Khun Suphot and the Komol Keemthong Foundation, and many others. I am also grateful to the British Academy for their generous award of a grant to fund this research.

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² The misuse of drugs in developing countries has been documented by Dianna Melrose in Bitter Pills (Oxfam, 1982). Prices at pre-1984 devaluation rates.

³ Ibid., p. 74–5. Not only is the price higher, but there are blatant discrepancies in information contained in the accompanying leaflets. The Thai versions for both Valium and Mogadon exclude advice given to English readers on ‘tolerance’ and ‘precautions’.

⁴ According to Jean Mulholland, ‘few modern drugs are sold in Thailand.’ Either she is over-optimistic or there have been considerable changes since her article appeared in 1979. See Mulholland, Jean, ‘Thai Traditional Medicine: Ancient Thought and Practice in a Thai Context’, in the Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 67, Pt 2 (1979), p. 81.Google Scholar

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¹⁵ It is interesting to compare these illnesses with those encountered by Kaufman in his study of Bangkhuad (which is near Minburi and about 50 km to the South of Nongsua). He lists dysentery and intestinal disorders, haemorrhoids, skin infections, malaria, tuberculosis and trachoma, and also describes prevailing attitudes among the villagers to sanitation. Kaufman, Howard K., Bangkhuad: A Community Study in Thailand, Monographs of the Association for Asian studies, No. 10 (Charles E. Tuttle, 1976), p. 173.Google Scholar

¹⁶ The Thai names of medicinal plants were obtained from the monks. Photographs were taken, and both were checked by botanists from Mahidol and Chulalongkorn Universities.

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¹⁸ A sphygmomanometer consists of a stethoscope, inflatable arm strap and pressure gauge, and measures blood pressure.

¹⁹ Mass ordinations of young men from the Hill Tribes take place at the Wat Benjamabopitr.

²⁰ Most of the herbs are to be found in Ratdawan Boonratanakornkit and Thanomchit Supawita, Names of Herbs and their Uses (Chulalongkorn University, n.d.).

²¹ For details of Phra Khru Sakorn's views on Buddhism, see Sakorn Sangvorakij, Phrasong Kap Kaan Patanachumchon: Kaan Patiroop Cheewit Chaaw Baan Tii Yokkrabut (The Monk and Community Development: Reforming the Life of the Villagers at Yokkrabut) (Komol Keemthong Foundation, BE 2520, 1977).

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³³ Mulholland Ibid., p. 100.

³⁴ Ibid., p. 101.

³⁵ Ibid., p. 111.

³⁶ Melrose (see n. 2).

³⁷ Wells, Kenneth E., Thai Buddhism: Its Rites and Activities (Suriyabun, 1939, updated 1975), pp. 209, 213.Google Scholar See also Bunnag, Jane, Buddhist Monk, Buddhist Layman (Cambridge University Press, 1973), p. 21 (footnote)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; she refers to ‘merit’ rather than ‘karmic’ balance.

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⁴² Tongpan fails to get a loan from his landlord to buy medicine for his sick wife, who dies. Luk Isan depicts the exploitation of Northeasterners by Vietnamese merchants selling medicines.

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⁴⁴ Ibid., p. 136.

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⁵³ It is impossible to generalize as to the usefulness of Ampicillin before promiscuous sex. However, Dr Colin Britton (UK) thought that it would probably prevent some venereal diseases, though the use of condoms was ‘infinitely preferable’. He was also more inclined than some doctors to recommend antibiotics for a wide range of illnesses. His argument was that although antibiotics do not destroy viruses, many viral illnesses induce such a level of weakness (especially in an undernourished person) that a bacterial infection is almost bound to follow.

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⁵⁶ Ibid., p. 46 (footnote).

⁵⁷ Ibid., p. 33.

⁵⁸ Ibid., pp. 16, 24, 37, 52, 53, 54, 58.

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⁶⁰ Ibid., p. 420.

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