Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T01:36:10.700Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Of Germs, Public Hygiene, and the Healthy Body: The Making of the Medicalizing State in Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2007

Davisakd Puaksom
Get access

Abstract

The historical study of Western medicine in nineteenth-century Siam has emphasized the dichotomy between Western medicine and traditional Thai medical practice. The former is often represented as a monolith, and the epistemological transformation of Western medicine during the nineteenth century is glossed over without sufficient attention. Pasteurian medicine, especially the idea of germs, was introduced to Siam by the American missionary Dan Beach Bradley. Its introduction spurred a process of negotiation with both pre-Pasteurian Western and traditional Thai medicine. In its pre-Pasteurian and Pasteurian variants, Western medicine was constituted as a new medical practice and disciplinary regime in Siam. As a discursive instrument of state hegemony, the ideas, structures, policies, and institutions of Western medicine furthered the understanding and management of virulent epidemics, the institution of the sanitary system, the shaping of new concepts of population and a healthy workforce, and not least, the framing of a medicalizing project to police people's bodies pursued by the Thai state in the 1930s.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 66 , Issue 2 , May 2007 , pp. 311 - 344
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

List of References

Anuson krasuang satharanasuk 20 pi pho. so. 2485–2505. 1962. [Memorial of the Ministry of Public Health's 20th Anniversary, 1942–1962]. Bangkok: Rongphim thaikasem.Google Scholar
Boriphat, . 1924. “Phra damrat khong somdet phrachao borommawongthoe kromphra nakonsawan woraphinit, prathan nai kanpoet rongrian nang sukhaphiban, 17 mithunayon pho. so. 2467” [Prince Paribatra's Speech at the Opening of the Sanitary School, June 17, 1924]. In Anuson krasuang satharanasuk khrop rop 15 pi, pho. so. 2485–2500 [Memorial of the Ministry of Public Health's 15th Anniversary, 1941–1957]. Bangkok: Rongphim thaikasem, 1957.Google Scholar
Borirak Wetchakan, Phraya et al. 1934. Kan satharanasuk lae satharanupakan [Public Health and Public Welfare]. Reading materials for the training program of the municipality's consultant, Thammasat University.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1844a. “Vaccination Successful in Siam.” Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 1 (3): 10.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1844b. “Smallpox and Cholera in Calcutta.” Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 1 (4): 14.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1845a. “On Intermittent Fever.” Pts. 1 and 2. Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 1 (7): 28; 1 (8): 31–32.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1845b. “Causes of Intermittent Fever.” Pts. 1 and 2. Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 1 (9): 36; 1 (10): 39–40.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1845c. “On Idio-Miasmata.” Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 1 (11): 42–43.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1845d. “Femoral Artery Tied in the Groin for a Larger Femoral Aneurism, at the Bangkok Dispensary.” Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 1 (12): 48.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1866a. “Tamra kae longrak” [Treatise on the Curing of Cholera]. Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 2 (11): 127–29.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1866b. “Rueang longrak” [On Cholera]. Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 2 (11): 129.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1866c. “Kanchatchaeng nai krungthep phuea cha khae rok longrak” [Arrangements in Bangkok to Prevent the Cholera]. Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 2 (12): 134–35.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1866d. “Nangsue khat ok ma chak nangsue chotmaihet mo ya thi mueang amerika” [Attraction from the American Physician Chronicle]. Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 2 (12): 135.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1866e. “Phuak mo prueksa kan duai rok longrak” [Conference on Cholera]. Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 2 (15): 174–75.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1866f. “Khai pit pen duai het arai” [What Is the Cause of Intermittent Fever?]. Nangsue chotmaihet Bangkok Recorder 2 (16): 194.Google Scholar
Bradley, Dan Beach. 1936. Abstract of the Journal of Rev. Dan Beach Bradley, M.D. Medical Missionary in Siam 1835–1873. Ed. George, Haws FeltusCleveland, Oh.: Multigraph Department of Pilgrim Church.Google Scholar
Brummelhuis, Han ten. 1987. Merchant, Courtier, and Diplomat: A History of the Contacts between the Netherlands and Thailand. Lochem: Uitgeversmaatschappij de Tijdstroom.Google Scholar
Brun, Viggo and Trond, Schumacher. 1987. Traditional Herbal Medicine in Northern Thailand. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Carter, K. Codell. 1988. “The Koch-Pasteur Dispute on Establishing the Cause of Anthrax.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 62: 42–57.Google ScholarPubMed
Carter, K. Codell. 1991. “The Development of Pasteur's Concept of Disease Causation and the Emergence of Specific Causes in Nineteenth-Century Medicine.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 65:528–48.Google ScholarPubMed
Ruangsin, Chai. 1937. Nangsue an pluk chai nakrian [Reading for Stirring the Student's Mind]. 2nd ed.Bangkok: Rongphim Daily Mail.Google Scholar
Chaiyon, Praditsin. 1990. “Setthasat kanmueang waduai kan wangphaen khropkhrua khong thai: sueksa chak krabuankan nayobai” [Political Economy of Thai Family Planning: A Study of the Policy Process]. Master's thesis, Thammasat University.Google Scholar
Chirawat, Saengthong. 2003. Chiwit phrachamwan khong chao sayam nai krungthep pho. so. 2426–2475 [Everyday Life of the Siamese in Bangkok, 1883–1932]. Master's thesis, Chulalongkorn University.Google Scholar
Chulalongkorn, 1888. Phraratchaphithi sipsong duean. [The Royal Ceremonies of the Twelve Months]18th ed.Bangkok: Samnakphim Bannakhan, 1999.Google Scholar
Cohen, Paul T Forthcoming. “Public Health in Thailand: Changing Medical Paradigms and Disease Patterns in Political and Economic Context.” In Public Health in Asia and Pacific: A Comparative History, ed. Lewis, Milton J and Kerrie, MacPhersonLondon: RoutledgeCurzon.Google Scholar
Coleman, William. 1987. “Koch's Comma Bacillus: The First Year.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 61:315–42.Google ScholarPubMed
Conrad, Peter, and Schneider, Joseph W. 1992. Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Damrong, Rachanuphap. 1944. Nithan borankhadi [Historical Anecdotes]. Bangkok: Khlang Vidhaya, 1974.Google Scholar
Damrong, Rachanuphap. 1946. Khwam song cham [Recollections]. Bangkok: Matichon, 2006.Google Scholar
Davisakd, Puaksom. 2007. Kanphaet samai mai nai sangkhom thai: chuea rok rangkai lae rat wetchakam [Modern Medicine in Thai Society: Germs, the Body, and the Medicalized State]. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.Google Scholar
De Bevoise, Ken. 1995. Agents of Apocalypse: Epidemic Disease in the Colonial Philippines. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dhiravat, Na Pombejra. 1993. Court, Company, and Campong: Essays on the VOC Presence in Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya: Ayutthaya Historical Study Center.Google Scholar
Finlayson, George. 1826. The Mission to Siam and Hué 1821–1822. Singapore: Oxford University Press/Siam Society, 1988.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1973. The Birth of Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1977. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Trans. Sheridan, Alan. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1980. “Politics of Health in the Eighteenth Century.” In Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–1977, ed. and trans. Gordon, Colin. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 2001. “Governmentality.” In Power: Essential Works of Foucault, 1954–1984, vol. III, ed. Faubian, James D trans. Robert, Hurley et al. , 201–22 London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, E. W. 1940. Adventurers in Siam in the Seventeenth Century. London: Royal Asiatic Society.Google Scholar
Ileto, Reynaldo C. 1988. “Cholera and the Origins of the American Sanitary Order in the Philippines.” In Imperial Medicine and Indigenous Societies, ed. David, Arnold125–48. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Ileto, Reynaldo C. 1997. “Outlines of a Nonlinear Emplotment of Philippine History.” In The Politics of Culture in the Shadow of Capital: Worlds Aligned, ed. Lisa, Lowe and David, Lloyd98–131. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kasian, Tejapira. 1997. “Baep withi amnat thai: kho khit waduai khwam samphan thang amnat thi kieokhong kap satharanasuk nai sangkhom thai” [Thai Style of Power: Reflections on Power Relations in the Thai Health Care System]. Paper presented at the drafting of the 1997 Constitution, Thammasat University and Health Systems Research Institute, April 28, Bangkok.Google Scholar
Kobkua, Suwannathat-Pian. 1995. Thailand's Durable Premier: Phibun through Three Decades, 1932–1957. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Komat, Chuengsathiansap, and Chatchai, Muksong, eds. 2002. Phromdaen khwamru prawattisat kanpaet lae satharanasuk thai [The State of Knowledge of the Thai History of Medicine and the Health Care System]. Bangkok: Health Systems Research Institute.Google Scholar
Kongsakon, Kawinrawikun. 2002. “Kansang rangkai phonlamueang thai nai samai chomphon pho. phibunsongkram pho. so. 2481–2487” [Constructing the Body of Thai Citizens during the Phibun Regime, 1938–1944]. Master's thesis, Thammasat University.Google Scholar
Krom, Achiwasueksa[Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education]. 1942. Baep rian nathi phonlamueang lae sinlatham samrap chan matthayom pithi 3 [Textbook on Civic Duties and Moral Virtues for the Third Year of Secondary School]. 2nd ed.Bangkok: Rongrian changphim wat sangkhawet.Google Scholar
McFarland, George. 1910. Withi pongkan lae raksa kalarok [Manual of Plague Prevention and Treatment]. Bangkok: Rongphim sammit.Google Scholar
McNeill, William H. 1998. Plagues and Peoples. New York: Anchor.Google Scholar
Mongkut, 1963. Phraratchahatthalekha phrabatsomdet phrachomklao chao yuhua [Royal Correspondence of King Mongkut]. 2 vols. Bangkok: Kurusapha.Google Scholar
Monruethai, Chaiwiset. 1999. “Prawattisat sangkhom: suam lae khrueang sukkhaphan nai prathet thai (pho. so. 2440–2540)” [Social History: Lavatories and Sanitary Ware in Thailand, 1897–1997]. Master's thesis, Thammasat University.Google Scholar
Mulholland, Jean. 1987. Medicine, Magic and Evil Spirits: Study of a Text on Thai Traditional Paediatrics. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar
Ogaka, Mariko. 2000. “Uneasy Bedfellows: Science and Politics in the Refutation of Koch's Bacterial Theory of Cholera.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 74:671–707.Google Scholar
Pensi, Kawiwongprasoet. 1985. “Botbat khong rat to panha sukkhaphap khong prachachon (pho. so. 2325–lang kanplianplaeng kanpokkhrong pho. so. 2475)” [The State's Role Regarding People's Health Problems, 1782–after the 1932 Revolution]. Master's thesis, Mahidol University.Google Scholar
Porter, Roy, ed. 1996. Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Prachumkotmai prachamsok [Collected Annual Law Codes]. 1932–34. Comp. Sathian Lailak. Bangkok: Rongphim Daily Mail.Google Scholar
Prathip, Chumpon. 1998. Prawattisat kanphaet phaen thai [History of Thai Traditional Medicine]. Bangkok: Sinlapakorn University, Research and Development Institute.Google Scholar
Prawat sathan pasteur lae phanaek witthayasat haeng sapha kachat sayam [History of the Pasteur Institute and the Siamese Red Cross' Science Section]. 1922. Published on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Pasteur Institute, December 7.Google Scholar
Ratchakitchanubeksa [Royal Thai Government Gazette]. 1917–42. Bankgkok: Bangkok International Translations Office.Google Scholar
Rangsit, . 1924. “Kan satharanasuk khue arai?” [What Is Public Health?]. Speech given at the opening ceremony of Prince Rangsit's monument, Bangkok, November 27.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Craig J., ed. 2002. National Identity and Its Defenders: Thailand Today. Rev. ed.Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.Google Scholar
Sakol, Varavarn. 1930. “Public Health and Medical Service.” In Siam: General and Medical Features. Bangkok: Bangkok Time Press/Far Eastern Association of Tropical Medicine.Google Scholar
Sari, Ongsomwang et al. 1999. 15 Koranisueksa waduai khwamtuk kap rabop borikan sukkhaphap [Fifteen Case Studies of Suffering and the Health Care System]. Bangkok: Health Systems Research Institute.Google Scholar
Sawat, Chanthani. 1966. Nithan chao rai [Folk Tales]. Vol. 2. Bangkok: Kurusapha.Google Scholar
Somchintana, Thongthew Ratanasarn. 1989. The Principles and Concepts of Thai Classical Medicine. Bangkok: Thammasat University, Thai Studies Research Institute.Google Scholar
Siburapa (Kulap Saipradit). 1949. “Khao lueak lambarene nai sayam” [He Chooses Lambarene in Siam]. In Kho raeng noi thoe [Give Me a Hand]. Bangkok: Samnakphim Dokya, 1993.Google Scholar
Sukit, Danyutthasin. 1991. “Kansatharanasuk baep samai mai nai ratchasamai phrabatsomdet phra mongkutklao chao yuhua (pho. so. 2453–2468)” [Modern Public Health in the Reign of King Vajiravudh, 1910–25]. Master's thesis, Si Nakharinwirot University, Prasanmit.Google Scholar
Surirat, Sawatdi. 1989. “Botbat khong somdet phrachao borommawongthoe kromphraya chainat narenthorn to kanphaet lae kansatharanasuk (pho. so. 2456–2468)” [The Role of Prince Rangsit in Medicine and Public Health in Thailand, 1913–25]. Master's thesis, Thammasat University.Google Scholar
Suwatsadi, Photpan. 2000. “Thetsaban lae phon krathop to amnat thongthin pho. so. 2476–2500” [The Municipality and Its Impact on Local Power, 1933–1957]. Master's thesis, Chulalongkorn University.Google Scholar
Szczygiel, Bonj, and Robert, Hewitt. 2000. “Nineteenth-Century Medical Landscapes: John H. Rauch, Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Search for Salubrity.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 74: 708–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terwiel, B. J. 1987. “Asiatic Cholera in Siam: Its First Occurrence and the 1820 Epidemic.” In Death and Disease in Southeast Asia: Explorations in Social Medical and Demographic History, ed. Norman, G Owen142–61. Singapore: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Thanet, Wongyannava. 2000–01. “Transformation of Chinese Haute Cuisine in Bangkok's Chinese Restaurants.” Unpublished research report submitted to the Toyota Foundation.Google Scholar
Thongchai, Winichakul. 1994. Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-body of a Nation. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.Google Scholar
Thongchai, Winichakul. 2000. “The Quest for ‘Siwilai’: A Geographical Discourse of Civilizational Thinking in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century Siam.” Journal of Asian Studies 59 (3): 528–49.Google Scholar
Uai, Ketusing. 1978. “Kanphaet thai kap kanphaet baep tawantok” [Thai Traditional Medicine and Western Medicine]. Sangkhomsat kan phaet [Journal of the Medical Social Science] 1 (2): 10–18.Google Scholar
Wariya, Siwasariyanon. 1984. “The Transfer of Medical Technology from the First World to the Third World: A Case Study of the Rockefeller Foundation's Role in a Thai Medical School (1923–1935).” PhD diss., University of Hawaii.Google Scholar
Wikan, Phongphanittanon, ed. 1990. Pathom sattawat haeng kansueksa phaetthayasat [The First Century of Medical Science Studies]. Bangkok: Faculty of Medical Science, Sirirat.Google Scholar
Wyatt, David K. 1969. The Politics of Reform in Thailand: Education in the Reign of King Chulalongkorn. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Yong, Chutima. 1940. “Chong kin khai tuk wan phuea anamai” [Eating Eggs Every Day for Health]. Khao Phaet [Medical Bulletin] 13 (5): 349–55.Google Scholar
Yong, Chutima. 1964. Pramuan botkhwam khong nai phaet yong chutima [Collected Articles of Doctor Yong Chutima]. Cremation volume, Wat Makutkasatthiyaram, August 8. Bangkok: Siwapon.Google Scholar
Yuwadi, Tapaniyakon. 1978. “Wiwatthanakan khong kanphaet thai tangtae samai roemton chonthueng sinsud ratchakan phrabatsomdet phrachunlachomklao chaoyuhau” [The Evolution of Thai Medicine from the Beginning to the End of King Chulalongkorn's Reign]. Master's thesis, Chulalongkorn University.Google Scholar
Zinsser, Hans. 1963. Rats, Lice and History. New York: Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers.Google Scholar