Kamin (ขมิ้น) is the Thai word for turmeric, the vivid orange rhizome that Thai traditional medicine and home cooking both depend on. Thailand calls the herbal sauna op samun phrai, a long-standing practice of carrying herbs to the body gently, on steam.

Turmeric is said to have long been used as a warming herb. Thai folk practice records it being applied to the skin as a body mask, and its use at times of stomach upset or skin trouble.

In the herbal sauna, turmeric is steamed together with several other herbs. In luk prakop, the cloth-wrapped herbal compress, one peer-reviewed recipe records turmeric at about 10% of the mix — a core ingredient alongside plai and camphor.

This is an English summary. The full article was written in Japanese. Original article in Japanese →