Page 105 - วารสารกรมการแพทย์แผนไทยฯ ปีที่ 16 ฉบับที่ 1
P. 105
95
sion of the Registrar or the Licensor; to lay Taking the study case of Thai traditional
down regulations; [...] to perform other tasks medicine, the perspectives of Guénon was
[23]
as assigned by the Ministeré applied to the Thai tradition. It was observed
It is a fact that laws and regulations are that since the modernization of the world and
necessarily important for the preservation of the changes that took place in Thailand, Thai
traditional knowledge. But in Thailand, more traditional medical knowledge is under threat.
important than laws and regulations, it is the The transmission of the traditional medical
Wai Khru in Thai tradition, which through knowledge, which used to be humanize ori-
the annual wai khru ceremony, organized ented, turned to be a mere commercializa-
under the domain of reason, allows the pres- tion... Affecting, above of all, the relationship
ervation of important characteristics of the between teacher and student - something
traditional knowledge: the initiation, the re- fundamental for the dissemination of tradi-
lationship between teacher and student, and tional wisdom. As a result of this change, the
the rite. value of knowledge has also changed, im-
Therefore, in order to give the final con- pacting the relationship of people with the
sideration of the researcher, in the next part, traditional knowledge itself.
the conclusion of this study is based on the It was observed that in Thai traditional
annual wai khru ceremony. medical knowledge of nowadays, an initia-
tion is no longer taken into consideration; tra-
Conclusion
ditional teaching is far from a close relation-
This study shows that according to ship between teacher and student, it has
Guénon, traditional knowledge is metaphysi- become a mere service supply. However, it
cal, and only an individual who receives an was identified that the performance of rites
accurate transmission is able to conceive it. and the use of symbols are still being pre-
The transmission of traditional knowledge served in Thailand - called the Wai Khru (‰À«â
implies a sympathy between theory and prac- §√Ÿ), a rite of paying grateful respect to teach-
tice, which stands for initiation, traditional ers (of any educational field).
teaching and performance of rites and use of The Wai Khru is highly important among
symbols. The combination of these three, the old practitioners of Thai traditional medi-
guarantees what Guénon affirms as the cine, but perhaps less relevant among the
ùperpetuation of the chain to which the very young (or modern) generation. With the mod-
life of tradition is linkedû. ernization of the world, the young generation