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Yaa Dong - the Healthy Spirit part 2
" The practice of mixing medicines with whiskey also orinated in temples. I think it has to do with the desire of the monks themsekves to drink whiskey. There is aruke that limits the amount of whiskey that can be offered to a monk by puring it into his begging bowl. It can't be any deeper in the bowl than the interval the fingertip and the first joint. Since taking medicine is adifferent thing from drinking whiskey, no rules were broken if this amount was exceeded. It was claimed as a justifiction that the whiskey carried the medication around the body more effectively then other admixtuers.
"Once the preparation of yaa dong got started in this way, it caught on and got popular. Instead
of just taking the medicine by itself, people got to drink liquor, too. Thais of every era have always loved to drink.
"Most of these medicines are considered to be strengthening tonics that get rid of fatique. If you drink even a small quantity of liquor, it stimulates the circulation of the blood and has an
energising effect.
"Later, there was a change in the way the herbal ingredients were added to the whiskey. Insted of powdering them first, the entire stems, roots or whatevr were wrapped in white cloth and put in a big jar of whiskey where they would soak for about 15 days. They would relaese their colour and smell to thepoint where tey became stronger than those of the whiskey, but the whiskey itself kept its full effect.
"when Thai yaa dong is sold, it is offered in little cups called thuay talai that holds at most 50 cc. One cup - no more - is drunk before a meal. It makes the food taste better, and stimulates the appetite, too, so that people eat more.
"Later, people also began to claim that yaa dong enhance sexual performance. It was said to produce unfailing and long-lasting erections, that it was so potent that it could make a monk
leap over the temple wall to head out in search of romance.
" But people who drink a ot of whiskey can get pretty frisky, anyway. Let's say a man has lived with his wife for so many years that she's gotten old and no longer appeals to him sexually. If he comes home comlpetely smashed and in the mood for sex, he'll manage it and give credit to the yaa dong. But it's the whiskey he 's feeling, not the herb soaking in it."
Warrittha Kimangkhasawat, who in Bangkok owns the famous restaurant Chotejit where yaa dong is available, explains that the formula she uses dates from her grandfather's time.
"In those days, there was a formula that we called No.1. Its effect was to cure fatigue and pains in the back and lower back. Later my parents added another 11 formulas. They invented these formulas themselves and they are still a family secret. No.2 relieves constipation, No.11 improves sexual performance, and no.12 strengthens the brain.
" In the old days there were yaa dong shops in every large community. In Bangkok there were a lot of them. There was Maw Thong's shop in Bang lampu, and Ob Tip Saan Jao Phaw Suea Shop, and the shop at Tha Chang. All of them have closed. The children iof the original owners didn't continue the business. You can't get rich with yaa dong. I still do it for the sake of my old customers, but eventually I will stop, too."
The traditional ways of taking these medicines seem to be dying out. A lot of research is being done, but most of it is focusing on the botanical aspects of Thailand's medical herbs.
We are witnessing now the final days of the yaa dong shops, and the tradition that they represent should be studied and evaluated. Otherwise, all that will be left is the memory, that there as once a time when Thais drank herbs pickled in whiskey.
"It would be recalled that in those old days, people would walk up to a shop, order a small cup of whiskey mixed with medical herbs, popped some tamarind into their mouths to chase the bitter taste away, and than continued on their way."
back to part 1
source: Bangkok Post
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