Thai massage – a blessing for the body
Thai Massage (Teerayuth Mitrsermsarp / Shutterstock.com)
What is Thai massage, what does it do for you and why is it often associated with sex? You can read everything about the traditional and world-famous Thai massage in this article.
When you ask a random person what they associate with Thailand, then the world famous Thai massage will also be mentioned. Yet it appears that many tourists do not easily opt for a Thai massage because a relationship with sex and sex tourism is quickly established. But what exactly is Thai massage?
Just like acupuncture, Thai massage is a method to heal the body in case of illness and imbalance. It is an ancient Thai medicine that, together with spiritual powers, herbs and food, can heal sick people and keep healthy people healthy.
History and Origin of Thai Massage
The origins of Thai massage take us back over 2.500 years in history. Buddhist monks introduced this form of medicine to Thailand. Buddhism embraces the holistic idea of coherence and harmony between body and mind. Thai massage is therefore part of the ancient Thai medical and spiritual tradition.
Wat Pho: ancient massage techniques
The techniques of Thai massage have been passed down from generation to generation. These massage techniques were first depicted on palm leaves. To prevent the historical knowledge of Thai massage from being lost, King Rama III ordered in 1832 to record the remains of this tradition in stone. These engraved stones are kept in the Wat Pho temple in Bangkok where you can also admire the largest reclining golden Buddha in the world.
Traditional Thai Massage at Wat Pho (Buddhist temple)
Wat Pho, Thailand's most famous massage school
The Wat Pho complex consists of two walled sections separated by Thanon Chetuphon. The reclining Buddha and the massage school are located in the northern part. The Buddhist monastery with residences and a school are located in the southern part.
Even before Wat Pho became a temple, Wat Pho was the center for training in traditional Thai medicine. During the restoration by Rama III, stone slabs containing medical inscriptions were placed around the temple. In 1962, the school of traditional Thai medicine and massage was founded. The instructions for the students are still painted on the walls; they show on anatomical images where the energy points are located in the human body. The students memorized the precepts from the walls. you will also see statues in yoga postures.
The age-old tradition is still continued in the temple. Although traditionally practiced by monks in Buddhist temples, the profession is no longer limited to temples alone. Centuries ago, blind Thais were also trained as masseurs. This group was known as the most skilled and best masseurs.
Thai massage is now practiced and offered all over Thailand, in massage schools, hospitals, department stores, hotels and on the beach.
What does Thai massage do for you?
Thai massage provides complete relaxation and is therefore an effective remedy for both physical and mental tension. It helps fight fatigue and gives energy. In addition, it is effective against pain complaints such as neck, back and headache. But there are also special techniques to help women get rid of abdominal and menstrual pain.
A Thai massage ensures that blood circulation and the lymphatic system are optimized. A Thai massage also results in a better functioning immune system and helps against aging. In short, it provides more vitality and the Thais even believe that it extends life.
After a Thai massage you feel reborn, you have a lot of energy and a wonderful tingling feeling all over your body. The effect of a Thai massage lasts about three to four days.
Traditional Thai massage in practice
When you enter a massage parlour, always take off your shoes, you will receive a friendly welcome. Your feet will be washed and if you opt for the traditional Thai massage you will have the opportunity to change into a special robe that is comfortable and does not hinder the massage. If you don't want to, you can just keep your own clothes on. You sit on a mattress on an elevation. Becomes not oil used.
Your body is brought into various yoga positions during the massage. That is why Thai massage is sometimes called “yoga for lazy people”. You are worked with knees, feet and elbows and sometimes even with the full weight of the masseuse.
Actually, Thai massage is a kind of mix of normal massage, yoga techniques, acupressure and stretching. The purpose of this is to harmonize the body, release blockages and remove deficiencies along the energy lines. Unlike traditional Chinese medicine, which uses targeted acupuncture to manipulate pressure, Thai massage promotes the same points but with a healing touch. Therefore, the pressure points are relieved of all tension. The life energy, or Prana, can therefore move freely through the body.
A manicure and pedicure are often offered during a foot or traditional Thai massage. After the massage you usually get a cup of tea to drink.
Tips for beginners:
- Start with a relaxing foot massage first. If you like it, you can try a body massage the next day.
- Be prepared that a traditional Thai massage can also be somewhat painful.
- Take your time. A massage takes at least an hour, but two hours is better.
Want to learn Thai massage yourself? The massage school of Wat Pho
It is also possible for Westerners to learn Thai massage techniques. A week-long beginners course costs 8.500 baht (about €170). The course is taught at multiple locations in Bangkok. The students are trained in the Wat Pho techniques, with the aim of giving a relaxed body massage. You will learn, among other things:
- Introduction to Thai traditional medicine and Thai massage.
- Preparation and limits with regard to Thai massage.
- Posture of the masseur or masseuse.
- Massage position, technique, steps and procedures.
- Dealing with customers.
After this you have the option to follow specialization courses such as:
- Foot massage
- Baby and child massage
- Facial massage
- Massage especially for women
- Professional Thai massage
More information on the website of the Wat Pho massage school
Nice piece about a beautiful aspect of Thai culture. Everyone here in the Netherlands should do a weekly massage. We are gradually spending more money on the maintenance of our cars than on our body, even though that body really needs to last longer. The Thais also regularly go for a massage and even in the small villages you will find several massage parlors. Fortunately, you don't have to go all the way to Thailand to get a good Thai massage. You are welcome here in the Netherlands in my massage parlor in Hellevoetsluis (wibar thai reflex massage in Hellevoetsluis). And yes that's the real thing, no disguise and therefore no eroticism :).
Hello Wibar,
Super good tip... except in Ned you pay 50 euros for an hour of massage. I want to maintain my body well
But unfortunately I can't do this more than once a month...
Greetings Miranda
A piece of Thai tradition well displayed. My wife is a teacher of Thai massage techniques and hates the erotic massages. These erotic massages do indeed damage the country in reputation. In the smaller towns and villages, where everyone knows each other, as a tourist you can get a good massage for about 300 baht. The ladies will not make any attempts to perform some more actions for something extra. This is against their honor. They love their profession. (there are exceptions of course). These ladies often say a small prayer at the start of a massage. A returning customer is a matter of honor for the business and the lady. Just ignore massage parlors in and around the nightlife, the so-called redlight district, if you like a real Thai massage. Enjoy it and you will definitely feel comfortable with it. This is also Thailand.
The prayer often involves a word of thanks to mr. dr. Sen, the founder of the 10 main lines that play a leading role in every Thai massage. At the serious massage parlors you often find a statue of him.
i have been sold on thai massage ever since my first day in thailand, 19 years ago. Where other people opt for a siesta or a lie-in, I opt for a 2-hour massage every day. Sometimes I find it and the lady speaks some English and she is pleasant, funny, talkative and sweet. That makes it fun. The combination of a relaxed massage with lots of spontaneous laughter is quite pleasant.
It is even better when someone really combines the training, the talent and the experience. A good massage is always a pretty painful affair for my body. My body has some abnormalities that have given me many complaints for a lifetime. And in those places a firm massage hurts. You don't have to, the lady will immediately ask if it should be turned down, but A. I'm not a wimp and B. I'm getting noticeably better physically. In the meantime, most of my complaints (you just have to learn to live with it, said various physios in the Netherlands) are gone or largely gone.
I sometimes visit a blind masseur in Chiang Mai, Mr. Nath, who also teaches at an institute for medical Thai massage. That's another cake. I have seen him at work a few times and I do have some medical experience. Nath is really good. One day he tells me to feel my shins, that the membranes there are so tight that the underlying veins keep letting too little blood through. And that is slowly getting worse and that is going to become problematic at some point. Especially considering my overweight. He claims to be able to 'break' the membranes, as he called it. But that would be extremely painful and would probably cost 3 massages of an hour per leg. I ask him if I can't do 3 consecutive hours a day. mr. Nath says I can't be in that much pain. That seemed like an exaggeration to me, but it wasn't. Never in my life have I been in more pain than then. And then after 5 minutes of dying, knowing that another 55 minutes will follow. Extreme, but also a good mental exercise. I had a leather between my teeth and a pillow to muffle my loud cries sometimes. Remember that in my life I had already had a lot of pain and trouble with my system. That couldn't get any worse. i was motivated. But after three days my left leg really looked a lot better than my right leg which we started a week later. He pressed his elbow over and over the bone of my lower leg and was apparently sensitive enough to feel exactly where the vein ran. Then he pressed hard and hard, with all his weight, the sweat on his forehead. And then he then pressed that elbow slightly outwards, sometimes even audibly tearing something inside. And then half an inch further again. The pain was really not nice, but well, I had faced worse firing before, a matter of mental attitude, actually a good exercise in breathing and being happy with the help. Due to circumstances my right leg only received 2 instead of 3 days at the time and you can still see where the treatment ended. I have to go back for that one day. Now I can take long walks without pain, or stand for a long time, that was previously unthinkable.
Now years later, I've been discovering myself since 8 months, starting varicose veins, those big bumps, on my right leg. I had expected that much earlier, but as the massage ladies often say, my legs still look quite young despite my age, my 1.96 and overweight. A small salon with 1 lady has now also opened in my village. This lady's name is eng (36). She is very nice, works very seriously and very motivated. Ieng herself found 2 complaints with me that I knew about, but did not mention her (pelvis and shoulder). This is now being worked on in a total massage 3 x a week. And to my surprise, my starting varicose veins have completely disappeared in 4 places for the time being.
For the record, a massage somewhere on a bed on the beach or next to the swimming pool of your hotel, that is often a completely different matter. Usually just nice and soft. But also in such a place I once met an older lady (Li Pen) who gave a real top massage, when she noticed that you could appreciate it.
I wish you many nice massages!
There are so few trained masseuses, they have no understanding of anatomy at all. They learn from each other and just do something. You really have to go to a well-known business to have it done properly, where the exam papers are hanging on the wall, otherwise it can break you down, such a ,,Thai,, massage.
Unfortunately, these diplomas are often fake or from the person who no longer works there. Just ask where the good massages are given to the thai themselves prevents disappointment 🙂
Indeed, after a visit to Wat Pho, for example, you GET your diploma after 1 week, but that is not only the case with massage, hairdresser, beauty therapist, you also become a training course after 1 week, if you can even call it training. If they start by standing up on your body, or continue with their knees on your legs, then they can stop with me. You find very few good masseuses. I always take a gentle oil massage, preferably essential oil, to boost my dry skin that I have been neglecting for 10 months in BE
Some massage shops have a clear sign: “Massages no sex”
Some cases do indeed have an exam paper hanging, but also clearly
a sign stating whether you have any heart problems or other possible ones
ailments.
Wasn't there a movie or TV series about 30 years ago that featured the 'soapy body-to-body' massage quite extensively?
Then, with your world-famous 'traditional' massage, it is of course a battle against the finish line.
By the way, I've never gone to a massage parlor for a happy ending, but sometimes I go with a bar girl for a massage to, for example, O'Ring Massage on the corner of Soi 13 and 2nd Road. That is a kind of chain with all neat shops where you can just look inside and where you can get a one-hour massage from 200 Baht. Every orderly couple can also enjoy the luxury for little there.
Sometimes very welcome in the rainy season to bridge an hour, and if it's not dry yet, go wild, throw another 200 baht at it and then it's 'singing in the rain' in the worst case, because the relaxation buds are optimally activated and minor suffering is absorbed effortlessly.
Yes, if you walk through Soi Honey you will come across more differently oriented establishments, but a well-read traveler knows that in advance or can correctly assess the atmosphere on the spot, I think. But for when it rains and you have already lost sight of your wife, a perfect moment.
Nice piece, and also very nice comments!
A small side note: the said course at 8,500 baht is nowadays a sloppy 225 euros, but still money well spent!
The Thai massage parlors in the Netherlands are also often associated with "happy endings". As far as the big cities are concerned, this is often justified. But fortunately there are also salons where serious masseuses work hard (because it is hard work!) to help their customers get rid of their complaints.
A serious masseuse will not offer sexual acts and I have seen a lady get really emotional when she said that clients had asked her to do it once.
In my wife's salon, Baan Sabai in 's-Gravenzande, we see that many customers regularly come for a massage. Often every 4 or 6 weeks, but more often also occurs regularly. And it's nice to see how customers visibly improve, sometimes even after 1 or 2 treatments.
A point that is discussed in the comments above, but only somewhat incidentally in the article itself, is that a Thai massage can be quite painful. Annoying, but you can't deny it. We sometimes find that the fear of the pain can keep people from walking in or coming back for a long time once they've been, even if they experience the positive outcome.
But all in all you see that people are more and more open to massages and see the need for "maintenance of their body". Also people of whom you might not think that at first, the "tough guys" with often physically demanding professions.
Hello Frank Kramer
soon i want to go to chiangmai with my wife.
mde due to overweight 135 kg heavy back problems cannot walk further than 50 meters if possible I would like to get in touch with this blind masseur Mr Nath or another good masseur there
thank you in advance
stains
Ps.I stay in the Nongkhai region myself.
Maybe someone knows a good address for a good Thai massage in this region
thank you in advance
Hi Pete, I know one in Amphoe Ban Muang.
She is a qualified Thai masseuse.
Because she pays a lot of attention to trigger points, it is advisable to take a massage of 2 hours.
She does not employ any assistants. She does the work alone and very professionally.
She is also known in Wanon Niwat where she used to live.
chander,
I have to laugh a bit. A Thai masseuse who pays attention to trigger points. I think all those ladies know very well where our trigger points are located. My wife even knows where to find them (and she doesn't have a diploma).
Pete, yes, but I don't know if that shop is still there.
At the entrance to the old cinema on soi (don't remember) but you get there via Meechai Road and turn LEFT after the Government Savings Bank (on the right) and after the Kasikorn Bank (on the left). That soi runs to the Mekong where the Vietnamese are. Halfway in that short soi on the left, brother and sister, large salon for foot and body massage, no 'happy' moments there and very affordable.
Or find a salon where the mattresses are simply next to each other with nothing more than a curtain between them. And ask the oldest masseuse or masseur to treat you.
My deceased girlfriend was a real professional sports masseuse and had a massage school in The Hague.
I often acted as a guinea pig there and learned what is good and what is not good.
Therefore, my disappointment with the Thai massage was very big.
It's either tickling tourists a bit or you're almost demolished, completely worthless and after trying about 10 times I can't get a massage in Thailand anymore !!
As devil's advocate, I have experienced several times that in a traditional massage parlor the masseuse subtly touches a 'certain spot' to try to earn some extra money.
There are salons with closed rooms, so not separated by a simple curtain where you can hear everything, an ideal way for the masseuse to want to seduce you and at a certain point the high word comes out 'you like, how much you give me?'
Eh yes, can't deny that to a beautiful handsome masseuse I have sometimes answered affirmatively.
It is difficult, as with many things, to separate the wheat from the chaff in Thailand. Especially when it comes to the unsurpassed Thai massage. Wat Poh in Bangkok is always mentioned first. By knowledgeable Thais and foreign physiotherapists.
Other than that I would stay away from there. Can be quite dangerous for your body!
What you say is correct, especially that it is dangerous for the body.
I have lived here for many years now and have never been tempted by a Thai massage. No one can convince me that all those massage parlors (which are plentiful) employ skilled and professionally trained staff.
I would never advise someone who needs a professional massage due to medical complaints to enter a massage parlour, on the contrary.
I will not deny that a Thai massage cannot be beneficial for your body. What does worry me is that you never know who will treat you and what their knowledge and skills are. And last but not least, most salons exist solely to make as much money as possible as quickly as possible (and all unorthodox ways are used to achieve this). All those happy endings have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with Thai massage.
Just ask for the diploma and certificate.
If she doesn't have that, then it's just not like at home, but not a real massage.
The real masseuses do not respond to advances. That could cost them their diploma and therefore a lot of money.
My wife has been running an excellent professional massage parlor here in Belgium for about four years. You wouldn't believe the crazy phones we received from sexually obsessed men at the start, even though our advertisements always clearly state that no erotic acts were provided or permitted. In the meantime, this has evolved nicely into a successful salon with a permanent customer base, 80% of whom are women. Those female customers are our best advertisers.
Dear Luke,
I don't understand why people simply profile themselves as a professional massage parlour.
According to Belgian standards, a physiotherapist must follow at least a 3-year training course. This training program is anything but to be underestimated. Lifelong further training is also desirable.
I notice that Thai massage parlors are springing up like mushrooms. Massages where the human body is pushed and pulled with full force can cause a lot of damage.
When is someone a professional? Has everyone received the necessary professional training? I regularly read that the teachings of Thai massage are simply passed on in practice. I do have some reservations about that.
Here in Thailand too, diplomas and certificates are being juggled on all sides.
Why do I say that? A few years ago I had a very bad experience after receiving a Thai massage. I still suffer the consequences of that. I think this should also be brought to your attention. The word 'professional' is used all too often.
Kurt.
Kurd,
May we also ask what that unpleasant experience was that you are still suffering the consequences of?
No broken p*n*s after all? 🙂
I had it done three times in different salons, it never happens again, I don't have the impression that massage is good for you.
I think many people confuse physical Thai massage with oil massage. With a Thai massage you receive special loose-fitting clothing and with an oil massage you lie completely naked. I have had a Thai massage once and never again. I was sitting right next to a squatter. Oil massage is much gentler and can have a happy ending.
I read at the beginning of the article that the question is asked: “Why the association with sex?” A very fair question of course.
I think this grew out of the fact that every Thai knows how to capitalize on anything and everything. Why not tempt an unsuspecting foreigner with an extra pleasure that in many cases yields a lot more than an hour of massage. And that pleasure requires little effort from the lady in question and is done in an instant 😉
It is sometimes said that the flesh is weak. Right, and in many cases the ladies take advantage of this. Many massage parlors are a front for sexual acts. Of course, the police turned a blind eye to this. It's just a form of prostitution, nothing more or nothing less.
I think it's a shame that all this is a stain on the decency of those who mean well. It is very punishing that many salons have to explicitly post that they do not perform sexual acts.
The question now is: Is this the fault of the greedy ladies or the fault of the sexually obsessed men? If there was no demand, the supply would disappear automatically! Something to think about.