Initiating Plan to Build a Hospital at Khuan Tha Kham and Background of the Psychiatric Hospital of the Southern Region before the Half-Buddhist Era (2500 B.E.)

Abstract

The psychiatric hospital was a consequence of the influences of 20th century Western concepts in which madness was defined as sickness; people showing signs of insanity should be treated. Such idea had passed on to Thai society as well when, in the era of absolute monarchy, it appeared to be the establishment of a mental health unit not far from the capital. After the revolution in 1932, regional mental health units were established with its first hospital located in the southern region.