伝統医療の復興とタイ・マッサージの普及 : 北タイにおける村民の対応

Abstract

Recently, the Government of Thailand has been promoting "Thai Massage" as a therapy within the official category of "Thai Traditional Medicine." This promotional campaign contributes to both the medicalization of Thai society and the ideological reproduction of the Thai nation-state, as "Thai Traditional Medicine" !and "Thai Massage"" is being constructed according to national standards based on both "royal tradition" and biomedicine, and as these standards are being spread throughout the country and applied by those in the medical professions. This paper describes the experience of a village in Northern Thailand and examines the reactions of the villagers to these developments. Inthis region, the legitimacy of "Thai Massage" is being created within the activities of a project promoting local "folk medicine." However, "Thai Massage" does not suit the villagers' way of life well because it clashes with their sense of values, body techniques, and etiology of disease; it also disrupts their social relationships. When they do adopt "Thai Massage, " the villagers modify it to better fit the context of the village. Even within this project, in some situations, local knowledge can be revalued. When confronted with power, local villagers recognize authority constructed at a national level only within a specific context and within limited modes of practice.