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The Baan Hom Samunphrai School |
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Address: Baan Hom Samunphrai 93/2a Moo 12 Tawangtan, Saraphi, Chiang Mai 50140, THAILAND
tel.
053-817-362 tel. 081.885.1429 (Homprang direct)
e-mail:
baanhom@homprang.com |
Shivaga Komarapaj
CREDENTIALS March 31st, 2023 The Baan Hom Samunphrai School's authenticity is rooted in the person of its Founder, Homprang Chaleekanha, M.S. (= 'Maw Samunphrai,' 'Herbal Medicine Doctor.'). She was awarded that title by the Thai Ministry of Public Health in 2003, and her Thai Massage School was approved by the Thai Ministry of Education in 2007. It's not easy to license 'Folk Medicine' because such medicine is 'Traditional,' i.e. it is passed down orally from generation to generation. Homprang left school at 11, and has had very little 'academic' training. Her most important teacher, her grandmother Paht, never learned to read and write but knew it all. Even today some of Homprang's most experienced Traditional Medicine colleagues have a difficult time passing the new Thai Government exams, yet their ability to 'heal' in the old sense is beyond doubt. Indeed, the Thai Ministry of Public Health has been working hard to find ways to examine older healers 'orally' so that their wisdom can become an official 'Alternative' to conventional medicine.
What all Thai Traditional Medicine Practitioners have in
common is their respect for the Buddha's doctor, Shivaga
Komarapaj,
or 'Maw Chiwok'
as he is fondly called by Thais.
His name is invoked at the beginning of
each and every treatment, and any official certificate or government
license pales by comparison with the respect Thais feel for Maw Chiwok's special blessing.
What follows is Maw Hom's CV with the details of her official Thai Ministry of Public Health Credentials. She was among the very first Thai Traditional Medicine healers to be fully accredited by the Thai government, and is part of the new movement to identify and train the next generation of practitioners. Her closest assistants, two brothers, one sister, two sisters-in-law, 2 nieces, and 2 nephews, have all been working with her at Baan Hom Samunphrai for over 20 years. Four of those siblings have traken Thai Ministry of Public Health examinations, and at this very moment her sister Giab, 20 years younger, is taking her final exams to become a 'Maw Samunphrai' as well. Needless to say, they all revere the ancient unwritten lineage of Maw Chiwok which was passed down in their familiy long before formal education arrived in a rural Thai village like theirs.
HOMPRANG
CHALEEKANHA,
M.S.
Born August 14th, 1958 Thai Ministry of Public Health Professional Medical Certificates
1.) Doctor of Traditional Medicine
2.) Herbal Pharmacologist
3.) Traditional Midwife
4.) Thai Traditional Massage Therapist
5.) Teacher of Thai Traditional Massage
6.) Certificate in Spa Management
7.) Teacher of Nuad Thai Boran |
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---------INDEX---------
Address: Baan Hom Samunphrai 93/2a Moo 12 Tawangtan, Saraphi, Chiang Mai 50140, THAILAND
tel.
053-817-362 tel. 081.885.1429 (Homprang direct)
e-mail:
baanhom@homprang.com |
Yaam and Paht Chaleekanha, Homprang's grandparents, taken about 1975 with the first camera ever seen in her village.
He was a master of the whole world, and knew everything there was to know about plants, animals, insects, minerals, seasons, and spirits, and could make any tool with his own hands including rope out of vines, buckets out of bamboo sealed with tree-sap resin, grind stones, wheels, carts, ploughs and harrows, chalk, blackboards and buffalo harness. Homprang loved him so much, because he was so patient and encouraging, and she feels he taught her more about life than anybody else she has ever known. She points out that she has his ears, and of that she is very proud. Paht, her grandmother, was the mother of all 17 of those children, including Homprang's father, and in addition was the sole doctor and midwife for the community. Illiterate, she was trained in plant identification, medicinal preparation, diagnosis and treatment by her own mother. Homprang served as her personal assistant from a very early age, gathering and preparing all the plants and then carrying them in a large basket behind her grandmother, who was very strict and never allowed her to play on the rounds. Paht also laboured in the rice paddies with the other adults and, as the eldest daughter, Homprang was often left alone at home in charge of her 4 brothers and sisters from the age of 9. She had to learn to shoot a 45 revolver first before she could be trusted with the whole responsibility of the house all by herself -- when planting or harvesting the rice the adults slept way out in the rice paddies for weeks at a time, and there were tigers, large pythons, bandits, rustlers, and of course, ghosts. Paht delivered Homprang and all her siblings, but was too late for the delivery of Homprang's youngest sister, Giab, who was the first baby Homprang ever delivered all by herself. She was only just 20. That is Homprang's lineage, and it's a distinguished one that very few modern medical practitioners can claim. The Baan Hom Samunphrai School is proud to be among the growing number of Traditional Thai Massage Schools approved by and operating under the supervision of the Thai Government. The Thai Ministry of Education.
Chor Mor 04-004/2554
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Yaam's
age and origins
are entirely unknown by the family, though he was thought to be well into
his 80s, extremely old for those times. Yaam spoke with an
unidentifiable accent as well, possibly Burmese or Laotian, and always
dreamed of "going home" as soon as there would be enough rice to leave a
full years supply for all his 17 children and countless grandchildren.That day never arrived, and indeed nobody in the family knows what or
where he meant, or even if he did himself.
