During more than a decade of practicing and teaching Thai massage, I have learned a lot about the magic of touch. I know it is there, I have seen it, felt it and experienced it, and I don’t need proof other than my experience.

I am writing this from my perspective of living in Thailand where people are less intellectually inclined and much less obsessed with scientific proof for everything. I am not claiming to be right – I am only offering a perspective from an angle that diverges from western thinking.

There are lots of articles and studies that all try prove the validity and the benefits of massage and touch. It is a bizarre western phenomenon to demand that everything needs to be proven to the satisfaction of the scientific community. Read the rest of this entry

Why are there so many relationships between Western men and Thai women? Why not Thai men and western women? What do Thai women see in those men and why do so many men fly half way across the world to find a bride in Thailand?

We discussed some aspects of those relationships in my first article. Here we are going to get very personal. Why do so many Thai women want a relationship with a foreigner? Of course not all of them do, but in my many years in Thailand I have heard the same statement from countless women: “I am looking for an American (or western) boyfriend”. Many times I have even been asked if I can help make a connection. If you have a hard time believing this, just look at one of the many Thai dating sites and read the ads by Thai women. Read the rest of this entry

We are all born with a need to be physically touched (see first article). And then most cultures train us not to touch each other. Some years ago researchers conducted an experiment. They went to different countries and just sat down in a cafe or restaurant and observed how often people touched each other. The results varied widely. Brazilians and Italians touched over a dozen times per hour, Americans a couple of times per hour at best, in England not at all.

If you break the touching rules of a culture, people will see you as strange or even threatening.  Unless you are with good friends, family, or you are in a profession like massage therapists, touching is often taboo. However some people break all those boundaries and with their enthusiasm infect others to come out of their shells and exchange heart felt hugs. Read the rest of this entry