After living in Thailand for many years and having received many Thai massages I have come up with a listing of different styles of Thai massage therapists you will encounter in Thailand.

1.  The social type: This is the chatty type. She will immediately ask where you come from, if you speak Thai, if you are in a relationship etc. She will chat with you during the massage and she will have lively conversations with her fellow Thai massage therapists who are working in the same room. She keeps her mobile phone next to her and she will take any call. Either she will stop the massage until she is done talking or she will hold the phone with one hand and massage you with her free hand. She is not really focused on what she is doing and sees the massage scene as a perpetual social gathering. It might really annoy someone, but there are clients who actually enjoy this party atmosphere. Read the rest of this entry

There are people out there who suggest  “no pain, no gain”.  Interestingly enough a lot of the Thai people actually subscribe to that. Many massage therapists in Thailand have told me that their fellow countrymen often prefer really strong massage even if it is painful, but in contrast the foreigners prefer a gentler and non-painful approach. I have also met a good number of  Thais who will not get Thai massage because they have heard or experienced that it can be painful, and so they stay away from it.

My personal experience has been that when I ask a Thai massage therapist to work on a tight spot, they often will just press harder and use their elbows to dig deeper. But this has nothing to do with Thai massage as a therapeutic system, but only with the way how it is applied. I have practiced and taught Thai massage for over 10 years and I don’t hurt anyone. Read the rest of this entry

Recently I visited a beautiful resort about 100 km from Chiang Mai. The owner is a naturopathic doctor who developed some amazing treatments for serious health challenges. He is committed to running a holistic spa and building a sustainable project. The food is healthy and clean, a lot of it grown on the resort’s own farm.  There is a steam sauna, two swimming ponds, beautiful grounds, horses, deer and other animals, and even a small golf course. Read the rest of this entry

Is traditional better than non-traditional?

Thai massage has almost a certain mystique about it. It sounds exotic and it looks quite amazing with all those stretches and yoga-like positions. It is the only massage system that I am familiar with which is branded as “traditional”. Whoever heard of ‘traditional’ Swedish massage or ‘traditional’  sports massage? But Thai massage is promoted as ‘traditional’, implying that this makes it somehow better than non-traditional.

Actually the truth is just the opposite. Some of the very best Thai massage teachers I ever had were all very much non-traditional. They developed their own style, they were very creative, came up with modifications and significantly diverged from the ‘traditional’ style that is taught in most schools in Thailand. Read the rest of this entry

Thai massage is very popular nowadays. It is being offered in spas around the world. Here in Thailand massage schools are popping up everywhere, and students come from all over the world.  Many books and DVDs are available for home study. However little is written about the challenges  that therapists can encounter.

The positive side of a Thai massage business

There are two sides to being a Thai massage therapist. New practitioners see mostly one side: Meaningful work with decent income, holistic, positive, and beneficial healing work, interaction with many interesting and wonderful people (clients and fellow therapists), the ability to have one’s own business, set one’s own working hours, and contribute something of value to the world. Read the rest of this entry

The answer that comes to mind most easily is “money” – massage therapists can make $60.-, $70.- or even more more per hour. But the focus of this article is everything except money. After having done massage therapy for many years, I know that money alone is not a good enough reason to be in this profession.

Thai massage happens to be my specialty but the concepts in this article really apply to any massage therapist. Every therapist knows the rewards and challenges of this work, and I intentionally choose to highlight only positive aspects in this context. Read the rest of this entry

Massage therapists have a fairly high burn out rate. Why? Massage is very different from most other kinds of work. You are physically exchanging energy with another person. If you only know technique, but you don’t know how to manage, protect, conserve and rebuild  your energy, you are a burnout candidate waiting to happen.

Energy is always being exchanged, if we know it or not

There is an invisible energy exchange happening whenever people get close to each other. You feel uncomfortable when “the air is thick” in a room, and you feel at ease in the presence of happy and inspired people. When you touch people this energy exchange becomes magnified. That is why a heartfelt hug feels so good, and a heavy hand on your shoulder can feel very intimidating or threatening. Read the rest of this entry

I live in the center of the universe as fas as Thai massage is concerned – Chiang Mai, Thailand. There are hundreds of Thai massage shops and schools all over town, and tens of thousands of people come from all over the world to study here. So the question is: Is Thailand the best place to study Thai massage? Here are the pros and cons.

Pros of studying in Thailand

Some good reasons to study here is that it is cheaper than in the west. The cost of  living is low, the country is beautyful and the people are friendly. If you combine a vacation with the study of Thai massage, you have a really attractive combination. You easily meet like-minded students and there are many opportunities for networking and making friends. Another advantage is that you can choose from many schools and even study in several of them. Read the rest of this entry

How can yoga teachers benefit from the practice of Thai massage? Here are eight good reasons:

1. Since many Thai massage moves are very similar to yoga postures, it can help students if their yoga teacher can gently loosen them up and maneuver them into a position through the help of Thai massage techniques. For a picture gallery of Thai massage and related yoga postures please click here.

2. Generally in Yoga teacher trainings there is not much focus on the quality of touch. Since yoga teachers often need to touch their students to adjust a posture, it can be helpful to have more knowledge about the quality of touch that is derived from massage training. Read the rest of this entry

Thai massage has its origins in India’s yoga system. According to legend, an Indian physician came to Thailand and introduced what is now called “Thai massage”. His name is a tongue breaker – Shivaka Komarpaj -and nobody agrees on the spelling. I always called him “Dr. Shivago” for simplicity’s sake which is fairly close to how his first name is actually pronounced. He is still revered as the founder of Thai massage and many massage schools display his picture or statue. He was a contemporary of Buddha, which makes Thai massage about 2500 years old.  Many Thai therapists begin their sessions with a prayer to him. Read the rest of this entry