Mor Saeng not ‘officially’ a folk healer
The Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicines (DTAM) yesterday insisted Saengchai Haelerttrakul, known as “Mor Saeng”, who is widely known for providing free herbal medicines to cancer patients, is not yet officially registered as a folk healer.
Mr Saengchai, a provincial electricity authority official in Prachinburi province, submitted a letter to the DTAM requesting to be registered as a folk healer in November. However, the DTAM, which oversees folk healing, is still waiting for Mr Saengchai to submit additional documents, Kiattibhoom Vongrachit, DTAM general director, said yesterday.
“He [Mor Saeng] has already passed all the requirements, but still needs to submit a few more documents to us, such as verification from his local administrative organisation that he has lived in the area longer than 10 years. Until the process is complete, he cannot call himself a folk healer,” Mr Kiattibhoom said.
Mor Saeng became famous almost a decade ago after patients claimed that his homebrew herbs had helped to cure their cancer. Low-income earners queue up to receive the free herbal concoctions.
His presence has also provided a boost to the economy of Prachinburi. Local restaurants, guesthouses and other services said they benefitted greatly from the custom of thousands of patients who travel to receive medicines at his home.
Among those patients is Kittiporn Pansri, 53, a villager from Buri Ram currently suffering from stage three breast cancer. “I only took his concoction twice and now my appetite has returned,” she said, adding that she would be willing to pay if Mor Saeng charged for his remedies.
A survey conducted by the DTAM on 1,200 patients of his found that 50% said they felt better after taking his remedy. However, the DTAM highlighted that the survey only studied patients’ subjective responses and was not a measure of the success of the mixture in treating or curing the underlying malignancy.
Tests recently conducted by the Ministry of Public Health suggest Mr Saengchai’s herbal concoctions are harmless and do not contain steroids. The National Cancer Institute is studying his herbal medicines in detail too, and it will release the result to the public by the end of March.
The department found Mor Saeng’s herbal capsules contain fermented rice bran, Smilacaceae and Smilax glabra plants which are widely used by Thai herbalists who claim they can cure cancer.
“However, this does not mean we agree that his herbal medicines can treat cancer or that he is a cancer expert,” said Mr Kiattibhoom, adding that cancer patients should opt for modern conventional medical treatment as their first choice.