Traditional Thai Massage
Thai massage is a unique form of bodywork that incorporates Hatha Yoga, acupressure and reflexology with origins dating back a few thousand years. Ancient medical texts were carved in stone and these stone inscriptions still sit within the walls of the Wat Pho Temple in Bangkok. If you go there, you may be lucky enough to have one of the blind monks give you the massage.
Much of what is know in Thailand about Traditional Thai Massage was handed down orally from one generation to the next, and teacher to student. Unlike the scooping and continuous strokes of Western massage, the Thai method uses point pressure, muscle stretching and compression, done in a rhythmic movement of gentle rocking. Thai massage is applied on a mat on the floor, the work is done fully clothed.
If you ever pay for a real massage back home, you will really appreciate the value in SE Asia ($3/hour and ^). All over the country, massage is available. Many masseuse and masseur claim they were taught at Wat Pho (and they get $4 to $5 an hour). I expected this when I asked a girl in Pai in N.E. Thailand. "I was taught at the hospital," she said.
If prices are much higher (and you aren't at an expensive resort) you are not in the right place for a Traditional Thai Massage!
200 Baht is about $6.00 US and yet that is the tourist price.
In Vientiane Laos I found a strange twist. After the massage, the masseur used about a dozen small glasses that he placed bottoms up in rows on my back. He held a candle to the bottom of the glass and it created a suction that kept them there. After about ten minutes he removed them. I think the idea was to remove negative energy, but the only thing I noticed were alarming circles on my back that went away by the next day.
|
