The old image of Chinese traditional medicine - wizened old sages boiling herbs in a clay pot - has been replaced by lab coats, capsules and even trendy bars where you can slurp a healthy drink.

The Eu Yang Sang company, more than a century old, has witnessed the modernisation, and done much to encourage it. From Singapore to LA, from miners to movie stars, the repackaged remedies of old are now widely accepted far beyond China's borders.

Richard Eu, a fourth-generation member of the firm's founding family, was recently in Bangkok to explain why traditional Chinese medicine is increasingly popular as alternative healthcare.

The ancient wisdom retains its esteem, he said, even as modern medicine looks toward nanotechnology and stem-cell research.

Eu, now nearing 60, was born in Hong Kong but - apart from his time studying in England - has lived in Singapore since his youth.

He joined Eu Yan Sang in 1989 with no formal training in traditional Chinese medicine, learning from the firm's technicians.

His great-grandfather, the founder, never expected his products to be so widely used, Eu said. His aim was only to keep the employees of his tin mines healthy.

From such humble beginnings, Eu Yan Sang has become a leader in the manufacture and sale of traditional health products in Asia and is fast gaining recognition globally.

"Today Eu Yan Sang products are available in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States," Eu said. "It's listed on the Singapore stock exchange and has been ranked among the top brands of Singapore and Hong Kong for several years."

Eu Yan Sang International Ltd offers more than 250 products and 1,000 types of Chinese herbs and other medicinal items, including its top-selling Bak Foong pills, which contain a millennium-old remedy for menstrual pain, and the Bo Ying compound for babies' discomforts.

Among the new products are herbal beverages and the feel-good drink called "Elixir", which have been touted by Hollywood stars who visit the company's Elixir Tonic "bars".

These trendy spots on swank Melrose Avenue and at the Highland Centre sell all the nutritional supplements and scent-inspired bath and beauty products.

Why such demonstrations of faith in tradition? Eu pointed out that pharmaceutical medicine can't solve every problem, and often only relieves the symptoms. It lacks solutions for chronic problems, and offers little in the way of maintaining health or preventing illness.

"In traditional Chinese medicine we can spot the problem before the symptoms appear," he said. "In terms of rehabilitation, modern medicine doesn't give you much choice. They ask you to rest and give you some painkillers.

"We aren't just trying to treat the symptoms - we try to look at the whole body, because the symptoms may tell you that you have a particular problem, but the reason why you have the problem could be a whole lot of things, not only because you've been exposed to some germs. It could be your whole lifestyle. It includes the food you eat, your habits, and so on. Sometimes in order to get well you need lifestyle modification."

The company's products are made primarily at its factories in Hong Kong and Malaysia, which are independently certified for "good manufacturing practice". The high standard of quality control is why they're not cheap, but at the same time they're inexpensive compared to premium-quality pharmaceuticals, Eu said, and since they prevent disease, customers save on healthcare costs.

"In Western countries, the cost burden is very high and healthcare system is collapsing because of this. So if you can find a way to keep people healthy, you'll save a lot in the long run."

Five of the firm's health-food products and supplements are available at 20 GNC outlets in Bangkok: essence of chicken, essence of chicken with ginkgo biloba extract, ready-to-drink bird's nest, premium ready-to-drink bird's nest and gold-label Bak Foong pills.

Juthamas Cholthavornpong

The Nation