[buchmausar]

Kuhn Mel,
Hopefully Chamoung and dok din are among those plants in the 'green field banks'. Please let us know if you find them at JJ or in your local market!

[thakitt]

what type of vegetable chamoung & khanom dok din are? Are they root vegetables which grow underground, vine, bush, or some other type?.

I've never seen both Chamoung tree and Dok Din in real. Last time I ate these 2 dishes was more than 30 years ago.

Chamoung is a perennial plant. My elder cousin-in-law from Chantaburi cooked this dish for us, she used Chamoung leaves which made a special flavor to this pork curry dish. I ate only pork, not Chamoung leaves .

Khanom Dok Din – Khanom = dessert, Dok = flower, Din = soil, ground
Dok Din is an annual plant, grows in mountain area during rainy season. The old woman in my family's neighborhood was the only one in this area who knew how to cook it right. She ground this dark purple flower "Dok Din", mixed with flour, white sugar and coconut cream, sprinkled with sweet shredded coconut, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed it.

Unfortunately, these 2 women passed away for many years and I have never seen anyone could cook in their styles and tastes.

I also have tried to find information on ruesi dud ton, the Thai form of exercise. I read that it was created to give the muscles a good stretch after yoga asanas, so I am assuming it would be a good companion to yoga. I don't recall ever seeing it done in Bangkok. Is it commonly practiced nowadays? Ruesi Dud Ton (ÄÒÉÕ´Ñ´µ¹) or Contorted Hermit
It is part of Thai Traditional Medicine, it’s very famous and still in practice nowadays, many masseurs have developed their own styles from these original positions. You can find courses and massage in this style in Wat Pho.

Here is the history of Ruesi Dad Ton by The Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine, Department of Thai Traditional Medicine Development and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Public Health.

Contorted Hermit:
According to the Dictionary of Royal Institute (Thailand) 1999, Hermit means a kind of priest before Buddhist period who sacrifices his normal life to find a peaceful sanctuary and practice merit acts.

The first evidence of contorted hermit was found in the reign of King Rama I in 1788 during the renovation of Photharam Temple which at present is known as Phra Chetuphon Vimon Mangalaram Rajavaraviharn Temple (Wat Pho) and in the document of the Wat Phrachetuphon School of Thai Traditional Medicine mentioned that there was a contorted hermit’s hill which was an exercise garden near the southern Vihara. King Rama I needed Thai Traditional Medicine, Art and Science since Ayuddha period to be collected. He hence initiated the contorted positions to relax body muscles and applied with Thai belief of Hermit who was considered as a master of knowledge in various sciences and therefore describing them in clay sculptures of contorted hermit for public study and medical treatment. Later in the year 1836, King Rama III renovated the whole temple and assigned Krom Meun Narong Hariraks (a son of King Rama I) as a chief of artisans in charge of molding contorted hermit with the mixture of zinc and tin in 80 positions. King Rama III, his Royal family members, entourages, and wisemen wrote pieces of verse and inscribed them on the stones and walls around Chetuphon Temple’s hall as evidence of history of contorted hermit which was inscribed on stones as follows :

As to the year One Thousand One Hundred Ninety Eight;
In the year of the Monkey or the little era in Thai style;
On the day of precious Sunday in the half of the lunar month;
When it is the fifth day of fortnight of the Pig taking care and guarding;

Instruction is given to Krom Meun Narong Hariraks,
To be a chief of artisans for molding Contorted Hermit;
With expertise by mixing zinc with tin for such molding;
Of Contorted Hermit in 80 different positions of practicing merit acts.
After making and molding several positions of Contorted Hermit body;
The sculptures are situated in every pavilion all around the temple hall;
In the monastery of Chetuphon Temple, the name of the place for study;
Inscribed on the wall with several medical treatment methods.

In addition, there is another poem next to the above poem showing the wish of the King clearly that the Contorted Hermit story will be academic text for public study for every sex and every age accessing, studying and remembering for next use to oneself and family according to one’s wish generally and widely all the time :

The Contorted Hermit will be beneficial for good men everywhere;
The knowledge from this is like drug for curing;
The knowledge is to increase the accumulated good deeds;
From this the honor of the King is announced to the sky and ground forever.

Contorted Hermit was found in the poem for the picture, such as Rama III’s poem on body bending to cure waist pain and twisting legs, the text is as follows :

This ascetic is very amazing;
His name is Sangpatihe-nga, he is wearing matted hair;
He stretched his legs to kick for curing fatigue and weariness;
Contorted Hermit method cured waist twisted and knee pain.
Suphannahong Poem has the content as follows :
The ascetic or hermit did not have any severe diseases;
Longevity he gets, no body can compare with him;
He sat cross-legged twisting his arms, lifting his body;
By this method, he taught the lessons for many years.

Furthermore the ancient language expert, National library, Department of Fine Arts gave his opinion that: “Counting from the year building the Contorted Hermit up to present time, it can be said that Contorted Hermit is cultural legacy belonged to the people of he whole nation of Thailand that King Rama III of Ratanakosin Reign graciously gave to the people of the whole country, not specific only one person.”

Positions of Contorted Hermit
Originally there are 127 positions of contorted hermit. At present, many institutes; Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine and Wat Phra Chetuphon School of Traditional Medicine have developed them for an exercise in different forms and styles.

“Contortion” means to make any part of body bend as needed in various forms such as stretching, shrinking, bending and twisting. Each position can be less or more flexible as practice.

Contorted hermit demonstrates relaxing positions of your body to relieve pains and stress. Those positions have been adapted from those of a hermit who concentrates on his hard practice on good merit for several hours a day.

Contortion is an exercise or acrobatic to make your body and mind in good health. The by products of contortion is to heal sickness such as systematic disease and muscle pains.

Originally there were 127 positions of contorted hermit, however, in the reign of King Rama III, it was mentioned only 80 positions. At present, they remain 24 positions of 25 hermits.

Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine has selected 15 out of 127 positions. All 15 standing, sitting, lying positions have consistent movements which benefit in balancing body structure. Public and private agencies are now using them as a general exercise.

Selection of Basic Positions
Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine has its own criteria in selecting 15 basic contorted positions out of 127 positions as follows:

1. A position which represents body movement which can exercise every part of your body from neck, shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, waist and knees to feet.
2. A general position for the beginners to get accustomed with and to see an importance of balancing your body’s structure.
3. An original position of contorted hermit which is adapted for consistent movement of sitting, lying, standing positions.
4. A position that helps balance body’s structure and uses for exercise in different dimensions such as vertical, horizontal and oblique. This is to examine an unbalanced part of body so that to avoid hurting it according to balancing concept of Dr.Ladawan Suwankitti.
5. A position that can exercise your facial muscle which was initiated by the late Dr. Krungkrai Jenpanitch, an orthopedic expert who studied Thai massage and 7 facial massage positions from Master Narongsak Boonrattanahiran, a royal household masseur.
6. A simple position that helps adjust balance of body’s structure.
7. All the selected positions have been analyzed by conventional and modern medical studies for their effectiveness and efficiency. However, Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine has an idea to support a parallel research together with self practice.

Positions
At present, contorted hermit has been adjusted from the original record in Wat Pho to safer and more proper positions for exercise. They consciously focus on slow breath-in& breath-out and body movement.

Breathing Practice
In the textbook of practicing contorted hermit’s positions, there is no mention about breathing. In Buddhism, the meditation needs breathing practice, therefore, positions of contorted hermit should concern about breathing and holding breath as well. Before exercising with contorted hermit’s positions, meditation and breathing should be practiced correctly.

Inhaling-breathe the air into your body slowly and deeply to expand your stomach, chest, rib, and lungs, and raise your shoulders, hold your breath for a while which makes your stomach flats a little bit and fully expands your chest.

Exhaling-slowly breathe the air out of your body as much as possible by flatting your stomach, ribs, and lower your shoulders.

Contorted hermit is considered a Thai traditional exercise which is good for body and mind with meditation and breathing practice. It also helps heal your sickness at some level.

Benefits
Contorted Hermit helps awake, strengthen and relax your body as well as heal basic sickness as follows:

1. Help massage your arms, legs and joints to move naturally and flexibly.
2. Help circulate blood.
3. Prevent sickness, promote good health and a long life.
4. Elevate mind level from frustration, upsetting, stress and drowsiness by practicing contorted hermit with mediation.

Since Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine was first introduced positions of contorted hermit in 1995, no harms or dangers have been found. The slow movement with proper positions is safe for older people to exercise.

Use of Contorted Hermit

1. Teaching and Learning
In the Thai traditional medical courses of Public Health Ministry, for 11 courses;

Government/private work units requesting for approval of the courses through the Health Business Promotion Office, Health Business Promotion Department, Public Health Ministry;

Government/private work units having cooperation on Thai traditional medicine with Thai Traditional Medicine Development and Alternative Medicine Department, Public Health Ministry;

Government/private work units requesting for approval of the Thai traditional medical courses of Public Health Ministry;
The teaching courses of Thai Traditional Massage School (Wat Pho);
The teaching courses of Phisit Wetchakam School;
The Thai traditional medical courses of Sirindhorn Public Health College;
Teacher aid : documents/books/manuals/textbooks/VCD/ “Contorted Hermit : Thai Body Exercise”.

2. Direction and recommendation for curing pains for people who come to obtain Thai tradition medical service at several places in the government and private sectors.

[ireleda]

seems to me that if those crops were so necessary for the betterment of life that they would be important enough to make a few satang on and if they were not then why worry about them now with some people going to bed hungry and more land needed for a more economical way of producing food for the people of the earth.
Like continuing to produce luxury automobiles with powerful engines with the price of gasoline at record highs and more fuel efficent cars should be produced.

Maybe not a very good example, but good enough for someone that wants to produce a food crop that no one wants to buy or eat.

[thakitt]

I am glad to recall good memory of those delicious food and knowledge regarding Thai Traditional Medicine. I was in class for the theory but not in practice, it was fascinating to learn how people in the ancient times used natural resources to cure and protect themselves.

There are many books about Ruesi Dud Ton for the beginners but they are all in Thai scripts.

Susana
If you google in Thai scripts you will get more positions, 14 positions from http://www.skn.ac.th/skl/skn42/monk51/tmenu.htm, good luck kha.

[thakitt]

When I was young, I used to eat curry pork with chamoung from Chantaburi, the taste was so good, also Khanom Dok Din from Nakhon Sawan. New generations don't know these vegetables.

While I was studying Thai Traditional Medicine, I learned many rare plants that I thought they were just ancient plants in our Thai literature but some of them still exist in remote areas.

[ReneCM]

Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge, Mel.

[TainuibeFaimb]

BIODIVERSITY

Many food plants face extinction

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

Many of Thailand's native fruits and vegetables are under threat of extinction as farmers increasingly concentrate on mono-cropping, an agricultural expert has warned.

Hard-to-find fruits such as mapood, madun, some types of mangosteen and short-haired rambutans in the South, and the lychee-like srilaman in the North are among those facing the risk of extinction, the expert said yesterday.

Also at risk are vegetables such as chamouang, found in the eastern provinces.

These plant species, many of which have medicinal properties, have long been part of the Thai diet, said Songpol Somsri, an official at the Department of Agriculture.

He said his agency was very concerned about the problem and pointed to single-product cash cropping as the main threat.

''For us, climate change is not a major reason for their [possible] extinction. Our concern is mono-cropping. Farmers no longer pay attention to those rare plants because they are not cash crops.

''They want to take care only of plants that can generate money,'' he told a seminar on national agricultural biodiversity yesterday.

However, the department does not have clear figures on how many kinds of plants are at risk of extinction or have already become extinct.

To save these plant species from extinction, the department now has 20 ''green-field banks'' across the country for cultivation of rare plants.

The largest herb bank is in Chumphon, while a green-field bank in Chanthaburi houses some rare durian species. Also, many native lychee and longan species are grown in Chiang Rai.

Bangkok Post.

[buchmausar]

Seeds collected from native, or heirloom, plants can be planted to produce the same fruits or vegetables as the original. In fact, many people the world over save seeds from year to year to ensure their ability to have sustainable crops. They share and trade these seeds with others. Seeds saved from times of plenty are used in harder times.

Seeds collected from a hybrid vegetable or fruit may produce something entirely different from it's mother plant; possibly not even fit to eat.

The advantage of heirloom gardening to a home gardener is that a variety of nutritional and delicious fruits and vegetables can be grown year after year with very little expense, particularly if they are grown organically. It is easy to see the advantage to rural communities in all parts of the world to practice this type of gardening. It is a way for families to have better nutrition and variety in their diets and be self reliant in doing so. In fact, in some large cities also, community gardens have been planted in vacant lots to enable it's members to have access to fresh vegetables. Market consumers take advantage of these benefits when they purchase heirloom fruits and vegetables. The advantage is strengthened when they are grown organically.

Gandhi said (quoting from memory with slight para-phrasing) that if you give people food they can eat for a day, but if you give them a plow (or seeds) they can eat for a lifetime.

Many hobby gardeners are also interested in heirloom gardening for the sake of diversity, nutrition and variety of taste. Advocates of heirloom vegetables & fruits generally believe their taste to be superior to hybrid or genetically altered ones.

Scientists are studying native plants worldwide for their nutritional & medicinal properties in the interest of preserving those values. For example, many modern medicines are synthetic counterparts of natural herbs and plants. Without preservation of native species we may never have cures for many deseases.

I am in no way a scientist, but this is a simple interpretation of what I have read on this all important subject.

I am sure there are others who can add much valuable information to this. Please do!

[buchmausar]

Kuhn Mel, Could you please tell us what type of vegetable chamoung & khanom dok din are? Are they root vegetables which grow underground, vine, bush, or some other type?
I did a google search for these and it brought me back to this thread. I, also, am interested in heirloom vegetables.

I also have tried to find information on ruesi dud ton, the Thai form of exercise. I read that it was created to give the muscles a good stretch after yoga asanas, so I am assuming it would be a good companion to yoga. I don't recall ever seeing it done in Bangkok. Is it commonly practiced nowadays?

I got the information on ruesi dud ton from an article linked to a thread on this forum. Thanks to whoever posted it. ( Was that you?)

Krap kuhn, kha.

[buchmausar]

Thank you once again, Kuhn Mel, for providing valuable information. I am now very intrigued by ruesi dud ton, or contorted hermit. I think it should be a good exercise in itself, and for me personally a good companion to my yoga practice. The poses themselves seem to be similar, with stress on proper breathing.

After I first read this I did a google search for 'contorted hermit positions', and found pictures of 10 positions as well as instructions on how to perform each of them. Now I can't wait to try them!

Krap jai maak, kha.