When we think about Thailand, what comes to mind might be beaches, exotic places, sightseeing, and perhaps even Thai massage. But the miraculous healing event of this story is likely the most unusual aspect of Thailand.

All cultures in the world have some system of healing. Human beings have always had physical and emotional problems, be it injuries, sickness or any other trauma. Every civilization has always needed healing professions. Therapeutic healing techniques have included everything from faith healers to shamans to energy healers to massage therapists to modern doctors.

Even in western societies which have officially subscribed to modern medicine as the only healing system, there is a huge subculture of alternative approaches. Older traditional cultures have relied on such methods for 1000s of years since there were no other means available.

No healing system works 100 percent of the time (and that includes modern medicine), but they all have their uses and they work well enough to have survived the test of time throughout centuries of practical application. I know the true story of a miraculous and quite unusual healing here in Thailand.

It involves Jang, a girl from a southern province of Thailand who was 14 years old at the time. She developed a serious case of skin ulcerations that spread around her belly and back. Several visits to medical doctors and hospitals provided no relief and no cure. This type of disease is well known in the rural areas of Thailand and can be fatal in severe cases.

Jang exhausted all her options with modern medicine and she came close to dying. In desperation her parents took her to a local healer, an old man who was renowned for his healing powers. He took a look at her and proclaimed that he could cure her.

The old man started chewing on some plant substance which seemed to be Betel nuts and leaves. Betel nuts are chewed by many Asians for their stimulating effect. It looks pretty gruesome since it turns teeth and gums red and black and the people who chew it constantly spit out streams of blood red saliva mixed with betel.

The healer chewed for a while and then spit the blood red substance on her belly and back, and rubbed it in while blowing on it and uttering some kind of chant. There is no way of knowing what exactly he was doing, but after three days of these treatments, Jang totally recovered from the life threatening disease.

After 25 years the evidence of the disease is still visible as scars, but it was permanently cured. The old shaman accomplished a healing miracle while the doctors had given up on Jang. He asked for a modest payment of a couple of chickens and 100 baht which is about US$ 3.-

I am sure someone will think that this is a ludicrous story, but there is a similar story in the Bible (Mark 8,28) where Jesus healed a man's blindness by spitting in his eyes.

What makes this Thai healing case very authentic is that Jang is not a person I heard about from someone else, but she is my partner. I have been living with her for many years, and I have seen the scars.

The fact is that miraculous healings occur all over the world. While we might call them miracles, they are commonplace occurences for simple villagers all over the world. However the people practicing these methods see nothing miraculous in them. The old shaman in this southern Thai town had been healing people for most of his life, and for him it was just another day at work. He never thought of himself as a miracle man. The villagers can attest to many of his successes. He might not have been successful in every case and with everyone, but he did save the life of my partner Jang.