Thailand has many hidden treasures waiting to be explored. One of those treasures is the large number of old books and documents written by rural villagers. These books lie scattered among local communities and date back half a century and beyond. As invaluable family heritage, they are typically kept at home until their owner dies, then entrusted to a respected abbot or other trustworthy person. These silent resources have a fascinating story to tell: the life of bygone times as seen through the eyes of the Thai peasantry.
In 2008, a project to revitalise and compile information from old books across the country was launched under the name THRAI. Funded by PTT, THRAI - the Thai Herbal Repository Access Initiative - is a database of pictures and translations of rare old books and pharmacopoeia. It is the product of a joint research project led by myself in collaboration with Assist Prof Dr Chak Sangma of Kasetsart University, Assoc Prof Dr Panee Sirisa-ard of Chiang Mai University and Dr Supaporn Pitiporn of Chao Phraya Aphaiphubetr Foundation.
The aim is to digitally photograph old books page-by-page, with a specific focus on traditional medicine and pharmacopoeia. The project is an attempt to systematically compile and catalogue Thai traditional wisdom and make it user-friendly for contemporary society by placing it on the Internet. It is the first such open database of Thai medical lore that genuinely allows public access.
Everyone can make use of the information, but on one condition: that it is not used for commercial purposes. In this way, all Thais can truly share this national heritage and, most of all, claim our national rights over this wisdom by international law.
The age of these documents has presented several barriers to communicating the information they contain. The physical form of the books is torn and tattered. Often times, they are put away, for fear that they may be stolen or will further deteriorate. THRAI photographs their pages and places the digital copy on display while at the same time repairing the books before returning them to their owners.
Apart from its physical condition, the language and code in which the book is written needs to be deciphered. The project has a team of experts in ancient languages to translate them into contemporary Thai. The end products that are put on display at Thrai.sci.ku.ac.th comprise page-by-page pictures along with the Thai translation of the text. To date THRAI has compiled pictures and translations of more than 300 books taken from the Lanna culture of the North and from the collection of Chao Phraya Aphaiphubetr Museum.
The project has revealed interesting insights into the life of our ancestors. Books of this sort, written by villagers, cover day-to-day issues that the author encountered in life. Like a diary, they record everything in one book. The issues documented range from records of loans, and laws covering the release of slaves or the raising of cattle, to details of the author's personal life how they get through the day, what they treasure and what they despise.
The books also record knowledge of how to use indigenous plants to cure illnesses and maintain good health.
They reveal a picture of everyday life in which people and nature existed in harmony and respectful interdependence. Information from the books also helps us create a broader picture of Thai history. But most of all, these documents are tangible testimony that the traditional Thai way of life is essentially simple and self-sustaining.
Savitri Gadavanij is an assistant professor at the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA).
