Local healing in northern Thailand: An anthropological study of its effectiveness

The study presented in this book uses HIV and AIDS as an example to develop a comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of local healing in Northern Thailand. It is based on the perspectives of both local healers and their patients and sketches the origin and historical development of Northern Thai society and its healing tradition. The study describes how the local healers formulated their explanations of HIV and AIDS, It presents the healing process as a transformation of various kinds of meaning and introduces different aspects of the meaning attribution by healers and patients to medicines and their effects. The local moral world is considered as enabling a local healer to continue with his healing practice in a moral way. The desirable effects of this moral healing are addressed in detail. The limitation of clinical trials and the perspective of local healers on clinical trials is also discussed. The study finally suggests a proper methodology for research on the effectiveness of local healing