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The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand

Volume XVI-2024 (Special Issue)

and public health in all aspects including various foundations and societies under the royal

patronage of his majesty the king and in the process afforded people with good health and
quality of life. There were 24 medical schools established during his reign. King Rama X has

provided invaluable help to handle the crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic. He is the honorable
president of the Foundation for Crown Prince Hospitals supervising 21 hospitals. He not only

runs a number of Royal projects to fill the gap in medical and public health services but also
initiates and supports a number of projects to promote good health. There are 4 more medical

schools established in the reign of King Rama X. Furthermore, the Royal Family members also play
a considerable role in the advancement of medicine and public health in Thailand.

Keywords : The Royal Institution, the advancement of Medicine and Public Health in Thailand,

the Royal Society of Thailand

Status of medicine and public health in Thailand before the arrival of westerners

in the early Rattanakosin period

Despite the arrival of westerners in the Ayutthaya Kingdom under the reign of King Narai
the Great, medicine and public health in Thailand were still being practice in Thai traditional

medicine. There were no medical schools teaching western medicine. Even though there were
records of medical practice by doctors from western countries, there was no evidence of its

influence on Thai traditional medicine at that time. American missionary doctors were the first
to successfully introduce western medicine in the reign of King Rama III, in addition to education

and printing. (Department of Fine Arts, 2014)

The Royal Institution and advancement of medicine and public health in Thailand

When King Rama III reconstructed Wat Pho, the royal temple under the patronage of

King Rama I, he gave instructions to inscribe on marble tablets various fields of knowledge,
including medicine, which is best known as “the epigraphic archives of Wat Pho.” This served as

a way to disseminate knowledge, including thai traditional medicine, to the mass. (Anuphongphat
N et al., 2013)

Prior to the introduction of western medicine by the American missionary doctors in
the reign of King Rama III, illnesses were treated according to Thai traditional medicine.

His Royal Highness Prince Wongsa Dhiraj Snid, the king’s brother, was the leading physician
in Thai traditional medicine and also the royal physician in the reigns of King Rama III and

King Rama IV. The prince was interested in western medicine introduced by American missionary

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