A thousand years ago, the Chinese poet Su Shi -- also known as Su Dongpo -- wrote a short poem about music. Its question was simple, almost playful. If the music lies inside the lute, why does the lute not sing when locked in its case? If the music lies inside the fingers, why can we not hear it from the fingertips alone?
The poem is usually read as a meditation on art, skill and interdependence. Yet today, it speaks unexpectedly to one of Thailand's most urgent questions: how should we produce enough doctors for the whole country without sacrificing the quality of medical care?
