Thailand boosts wellness tourism with 5-year traditional Thai medicine plan (Photo: nationthailand.com)Bangkok (VNA) – The Public Health Ministry ofThailand is implementing a five-year traditional medicine development plan toboost wellness tourism.
The plan aims to increase health security whilepreserving herbal-medicine wisdom via wellness tourism to attract more foreignvisitors.
Anucha Burapachaisri, a government spokesman, on June12 said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had acknowledged a five-year plan(2023-2027) for steering local traditional and alternative medicine to generaterevenue for the country.
The plan has three main purposes, including developingtreatment plans for people suffering chronic pain, sleep disorders, and drugaddiction; ensuring hospitals and factories that make herbal medicine receivethe good manufacturing practice (GMP) standard; and planning to develop Thai wellness centres that will attractboth local and foreign tourists.
So far, 160 of the country’s 570 wellness centreshave been certified under the plan.
According to the spokesman, the five-year plan hasthree key goals, including increasing public confidence in traditional Thaimedicine and boost the number of people using herbal medicine to cure minorhealth conditions from 1.48% of the population now to 15%; expanding theproportion of people seeking treatment from traditional medicine practitionersfrom 4.58% currently to 20%; and boosting the value of medical herbs consumed inthe country to 90 billion THB (2.5 billion USD) a year by 2027.
The Thai governmentexpects the plan will boost local wisdom while also raising foreign visitors’confidence in Thai wellness tourism./.
