Preeyanee Prasopnate. Medicinal plant utilization : a living case study comparison of Karen people at Tipuye village and Isan people at Thungnangkruan village at Thongphaphum, Kanchanaburi province . Master's Degree(Environmental Planning for Community and Rural Development). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2004.
Medicinal plant utilization : a living case study comparison of Karen people at Tipuye village and Isan people at Thungnangkruan village at Thongphaphum, Kanchanaburi province
Abstract:
The objectives of this research were to study the mode of medicinal plant treatment and
utilization in two communities, to study the impact of personal and economic factors on
medicinal plant utilization ; and to compare the practices of Karen people at Tipuye village and
Isan people at Thungnangkruan village at Thongphaphum, Kanchanaburi province. The data for
the quantitative study was collected by interviewing 143 household leaders. The qualitative study
was based on in-depth interviews. The analysis of the variables was completed by using
Correlation coefficient and Chi-square under the SPSS Programme.
The study indicated that most Karen and Isan people used medicinal plants for their living
(69.0%, 78.2% respectively). The treatments included two main types ; using medicinal plants
only, and using them as food ingredients. 35.7% and 44.6% respectively of Karen and Isan people
used less than 1 gram of medicinal plants each time and 21-50 grams each time. For the frequency
of utilization, 40.5% of Karen people used medicinal plants less than once each month while
31.7% of Isan people used medicinal plants about 1-4 times each month. For the mode of
medicinal plant usage, decoction for drinking was the most commonly used (28.6% of Karen and
57.4% of Isan). The analysis of the dependent and the independent variables found that age and
occupation had a significant positive correlation with the medicinal plant utilization at < 0.05
Based on this study it is recommended that medicinal plant utilization be promoted by
providing education, fostering traditional wisdom about medicinal plants and encouraging the
younger generation to be concerned about knowledge of medicinal plants before such
knowledge vanishes.