Wonderland Healing Center on Koh Phangan

John, a man in his mid-30s, is not a real friend of mine, but a good acquaintance, whom I have known for several years. John has made money, a lot of money in fact, with his business partner Fred in a South American country.

John settled in Pattaya a few years ago and lived like a prince. He became known in many a go go's and other establishments, because John was kind to the ladies, who liked to see him come with a lot of money in their pocket. I once went to a few a go go's with him in a group. As a regular visitor, he was warmly greeted by the female staff, knowing that he was very generous with lady drinks and tips. Paying an amount of 5 figures in Baht was more the rule than the exception for him.

turnaround

I hadn't seen John in almost a year, but this week I found him again in the pool hall Megabreak. He had had enough of Pattaya and had moved to Koh Phangan with his Thai girlfriend, whom he called a princess. He wanted a different lifestyle, drinks only moderately, no longer smokes and eats exclusively vegetarian. He wants to grow old, even older than I already am.

With this philosophy and the fact that he wanted to do something useful with his money, he bought - in the name of his princess - the Wonderland Healing Center on Koh Phangan.

Wonderland Healing Center

What should I imagine at a healing center, I asked John. In short, guests are helped to change their lifestyle. Move more through yoga exercises, eat better (vegetarian) food, unlearn bad habits (smoking?), de-stress, detox, get to know yourself better through meditation, become kind to yourself and others through new friendships and compassion. And all that in a beautiful resort on the island of Koh Phangan.

Wheelchair

He went on for a while, but at a certain moment I told him that I am too old for such a thing. He disagreed with me and mentioned an example of a 71-year-old man, the father of a friend of his. The man was offered a trip to the Wonderland Healing Center by his son and spent three weeks there.

He was still busy with his daily work as a newspaper publisher, ate badly and was super fat. Thick feet, thick ankles meant that he usually moved around in a wheelchair. For a moment I thought he was going to tell me that the man got out of his wheelchair after three weeks and happily hopped around, but luckily, I was spared that miracle. Nevertheless, the man had a wonderful holiday, lost 15 kilos due to the lifestyle recommended to him and felt like a better person.

Target audience

I told John that 30 to 40 years ago I might have been ripe for a healing cure, because I sometimes suffered from stress and worries in my work and private life. But now that I live in retirement in Thailand, I don't see the point. I lead a quiet and regular life, have no worries (and don't want to have any), have never been seriously ill, eat and exercise well and sufficiently and enjoy my life. I'm also sober, floaty yoga and meditation are definitely not for me. John knows me fairly well and at the end of the conversation he agreed that I did not belong to his target group.

Recommendation

So I'm not going there, no matter how attractive the description of the resort is. On the website, which I later viewed, I read:

“Located on the magical island of Koh Phangan, our resort is nestled in a tropical forest surrounded by mountains. It is truly an oasis of calm. Our resort has 37 rooms, a swimming pool, a sauna and a beautiful two-storey “yoga shala”.

We offer an extensive program of yoga, dance and meditation courses, healing treatment, detox programs and a first-class restaurant with an extraordinary vegetarian menu.”

Look for more details such as accommodation and prices on the beautiful website: www.wonderlandhc.com

For those who want to change their lifestyle during a holiday in Thailand, highly recommended!