The Thai massage, one of Thailand's great experiences
August 12th 2007 00:55
Bangkok Temple
Among Thailand’s memorable, not to be missed experiences is the traditional Thai massage. Thousands of tourists swear by it as an antidote to fatigue as well as the other excesses of Thai travel. Many adopt it and incorporate it forever after, as millions of Thais do, into their regular health and fitness routine. There are massage establishments in every Bangkok street. They range from five star to very basic. Many monasteries, like Wat Pho, for example, run training schools and centres where the massage is part of spiritual cleansing and healing.
I took my Thai massage on Sukhumvit Soi 4, in Klong Toey, a narrow, traffic-clogged lane crowded with bars, tailors and restaurants, where every second business is a massage shop. Outside, bevies of tiny, smiling masseuses lounge in plastic chairs or stand on the pavements cooing “Welcome! Welcome!” to all who pass. Encouraged by the enthusiastic reports of other travelers, the row of occupied chairs inside, as well as the incredibly “interesting” price offered by the cooing masseuses, I decided to try the “daily special” at the Violet Lounge.
My only previous massage experiences had been in the Melbourne's Jurlique Beauty Clinic and in one of Malaysia's Mandara Spas. My Violet Lounge masseuse, however, was not one of the petite, smiling, gentle ladies of the Mandara, but a Godzilla of a woman, with muscular arms and the challenging demeanor of a street fighter. She seemed to fit with the stories I’d heard that many masseuses receive their training as part of Prison Rehabilitation Programmes. The massage room had none of the relaxing, new age ambience of the Jurlique Clinic. It was a large loft, disturbingly reminiscent of the dormitory at the boarding school where I spent my teenage years, with a bare, wooden floor and rows of silent cubicles, with drawn, unmoving, inscrutable floral curtains. There was a faint smell of baby oil, old timber and Pad Thai. Nor did the “Daily Special” include any of the gentle ministrations of the Mandara or the Jurlique. It entailed, instead, an hour of merciless manipulations during which, by turns, I clenched my teeth in agony, gasped for breath, stifled screams of pain, swallowed terrified yelps and choked back hysterical giggles. My limbs were stretched, bent and contorted, every surface of my skin was pummeled, pulled and pushed, every muscle was pounded, twisted and punched. My neck was yanked. My head was thumped. My joints were snapped and my fingers popped. The air was squeezed out of my lungs. My back was cracked. My face was slapped and pinched and my feet were scraped and tickled. There were moments when I seriously doubted that I’d survive to tell the tale, but survive I did and afterwards, recuperating in a recliner downstairs, sipping Jasmin tea, I had to admit, I felt marvelous. Perhaps it was because, like liver and silver beet, the Thai massage really is famously good for one, or perhaps it was simply because the immense relief of final a release from that heavy man-handling and strong-arming brings on an incredible lightness of being almost like an out-of-body experience.
Whether the Thai massage can honestly be claimed as one of Thailand’s pleasurable experiences, is debatable. While afficianados declare that it's bliss, some survivors describe it as torture, others as agony and others again, as brutalisation. Whichever it is, there’s absolutely no question that it leaves you feeling wonderful and well..
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Comment by Lara M
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