Warawut opened the "Herbal City Suphanburi" event, praising it as a project that promotes enterprises at the community level and recognizing Suphanburi as a province making significant progress in this area. He revealed that Thai herbal compress balls are famous abroad and favored by foreign athletes.
On 6 August 2026, at the OSSC Dome building of the Suphanburi Provincial Public Health Office in Thap Ti Lek Subdistrict, Mueang Suphanburi District, Suphanburi Province, Mr. Warawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Industry, presided over the opening ceremony of the "Herbal City Suphanburi" event and inaugurated the learning center for Thai traditional medicine and wisdom. The event, organized by the Suphanburi Provincial Public Health Office, took place from 6 to 7 August 2026. Attendees included Dr. Surin Prasit-hiran, Managing Director of Ratchathani Hospital Public Company Limited; Mr. Sornchat Sujit, MP for Suphanburi Constituency 1 from the Bhumjaithai Party and Deputy Chair of the House Public Health Committee; Mr. Jongchai Tiangtham, former Deputy Minister of Transport; the Deputy Governor of Suphanburi Province; the Chairman of the Suphanburi Provincial Administrative Organization Council; and several members of the provincial administrative organization from various districts.
Dr. Ratthapon Wetsaransuthi, Suphanburi Provincial Public Health Doctor, reported that the Herbal City Suphanburi project mainly involves exhibiting and selling herbal products from within the province. This aligns with the integrated plan to promote the development of Suphanburi Province and its clusters for fiscal year 2026. The project designates the development of the herbal city as a key mechanism to drive the province's health economy by integrating cooperation from all sectors to enhance Thai herbs, traditional medical wisdom, and health products to add economic value while promoting sustainable health tourism.
Dr. Ratthapon stated that the Herbal City Suphanburi project aims to encourage household-level farmers to form community enterprises to cultivate herbs according to standards, supply herbal medicine factories in both public and private sectors, and promote public awareness of traditional medical wisdom. It also seeks to expand sales channels for herbal products, motivate entrepreneurs to develop standardized herbal products, and foster knowledge exchange forums among networks.
Then, Mr. Warawut opened the event by expressing gratitude to Mr. Pattana Promphat, Minister of Public Health, for allocating budget to develop the learning center for Thai traditional medicine and wisdom. He added that if the funding was not approved, he would personally persuade Minister Pattana during his visit to Suphanburi in September, because the minister is a young visionary who is approachable and friendly to everyone.
Mr. Warawut said that being in the Ministry of Industry is advantageous because anything related to industry can be supported by simply adding "industry" to the concept, such as the Thai herbal industry, which can be considered an industry as well. They have had the Regional Industry Promotion Center 8 since the time of former Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa. There is extensive knowledge available, and he thanked the Ministry of Public Health staff for developing and building on that knowledge. Suphanburi Province is notably progressive regarding Thai herbs. He also thanked Mr. Sornchat for continuously monitoring the development and work of public health volunteers and workers concerning Thai herbs. Now there is a learning center for Thai traditional medicine and wisdom, and they plan to further promote the Herbal City Suphanburi project. He encouraged all public health team members.
The Minister of Industry stated that no matter how advanced modern technology is, he always values what exists in Thailand. Thailand is fortunate to have fish in the water and rice in the fields, as well as knowledge and wisdom passed down through generations. Many countries worldwide now recognize the potential of Thai herbs. He recently learned how difficult it is to make one herbal compress ball; it is not an easy task. After trying it himself, he understood why athletes appreciate them so much. The herbal compress balls used today are preferred by Olympic athletes from Europe and the United States, including his daughter, a Thai national ice skating athlete. When competing abroad, other athletes ask to buy these compress balls, saying that foreign chemical creams are not like Thai herbal compresses. When he visited his daughter during competitions, instead of smelling foreign massage oils in the locker room, he smelled the herbal compress balls and saw foreign physiotherapists with herbal steamers.
After presiding over the opening, Mr. Warawut expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Public Health and the Suphanburi Provincial Public Health Office for organizing the "Herbal City Suphanburi" event and opening the learning center for Thai traditional medicine and wisdom in Suphanburi. He said this supports industries related to Thai herbs, highlighting that Thailand has valuable local wisdom and knowledge passed down through generations. Increasing global recognition of Thai herbs presents a great opportunity for this project to promote community-level enterprises, build upon existing strengths, and encourage the use of quality Thai products.
Mr. Warawut concluded by thanking the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine for providing budget and knowledge support for development. He noted that with the help of MPs, provincial council members, council chairs, and deputy provincial governors, they can promote and care for the health of Suphanburi residents through Thai herbs. Additionally, Dr. Surin Prasit-hiran, Managing Director of Ratchathani Hospital Public Company Limited, generously donated basic health screening equipment to local health volunteers in Suphanburi. This reflects the understanding and recognition by senior benefactors of the limitations and challenges faced by these volunteers in their work.