นวดแผนโบราณ - Thai Massage

I wanted a massage. What I got was my body tied up into a pretzel and twisted until everything cracked. Such is the essence of Thai massage. The masseuse, an expert in physiology, subjects your body to heavy pressure on muscle groups, extreme stretches, and the satisfying snap of sinovial fluid as your joints are pulled to the point of popping.

The best reason to get a Thai massage in Thailand is the price. At home, a real Thai massage in a spa starts at around 45 dollars an hour, but can run in the hundreds. Granted, the cost of a ticket to Thailand will substantially offset your savings at the masseuse. But if you happen to be in the neighborhood, you can get a whole bunch of back-crackingly fine massages for pennies to the dollar. In Bankok's tourist district, an hour massage sets you back about six bucks. On Pranang Cape, a touristy place with relatively inflated prices, my family and I all got worked over for a little more than eight dollars. Tonight, on our last night in Thailand, each of us has an hour scheduled for less than the price of a pizza.

Labor in Thailand is cheap, and that pushes massage prices down. Mike says the minimum wage here is five dollars. Not per hour; per day. Low income explains why massage prices are rock bottom. The masseuse makes more in an hour than minimum wage earners get in a day. The funny thing is, a human being with a specialized skill takes in less money for an hour's hard work than the fish at the fish spa for the same amount of time. Sitting with your feet submerged in a tank in which tiny river fish nibble the dead skin off of feet costs twice as much as a highly-trained masseuse. The fish make more money than the people.

This will be our fourth massage in Thailand, but only my second Thai-style. I chose an oil massage the first time, and I chose poorly. I received a light smear of scented oil, rubbed on gently like I was a chicken getting basted for the oven. However, the last minute of the massage was worth the money. The lady sat me upright and crosslegged, folded my hands over my head and put me in a full-nelson headlock. She locked her right leg around my body and twisted me to the left, and half my spine went pop-pop-pop. Then, she switched legs and twisted me the other way, and the other half of my back cracked too. That was real Thai massage.

For a real Thai massage, the masseuse uses the whole body, not just the hands, to work out your kinks. The hard ridge of the forearms, the sharp points of the elbows, the knuckles and fingertips, and even the feet, are all employed in giving you a workover from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. You're fully clothed the whole time, and the masseuse puts you in various positions that are kind if like yoga. The second massage I got was a head and shoulders only job on the beach. Although I didn't get any of the cracking of joints typical of the full Thai package, the lady worked the deep tissue in circles, working out all the knots, and it was divine. Last night we went to the parlor at the east end of Pranang Cape, took adjacent mats on the floor, and enjoyed an hour of sensational bliss from top to bottom. And tonight, I have to say, I'm quite looking forward to being tied up and twisted on my last night in Thailand.