My first Thai massage in Thailand

Bangkok Tuesday  Jan 4 2017

Thai massage:

We spent hours at Starbucks trying to book a flight to Phuket for the next day.  So I watched my yoga time disappear as I drank my coffee, did a drawing and tried to stretch across the chairs. I was going shortly to my appointment for a Thai massage and I didn’t want to go there feeling stiff as a board. I was thinking about when you hire a cleaning person but you tidy up first.

We arrived at the prettiest massage place that first caught my attention. I checked the price- $14 for an hour and I knew that some places give you 2 hours for that price but one hour seemed like I wouldn’t be taking up the whole day.  I was ushered into the inner sanctum after I replaced my shoes with slippers, downed my tea and cleaned my hands with the wet towel. The floor was shiny white marble and very slippery. And then up the dark wood stairs, I was doing my best not to fall over!  My massage lady ushered me to an open curtain and I saw my lovely compartment with a white cushioned mat surrounded by elegant drapery and a tiny wooden table holding a dimly lit lamp. On the wall at the back was a locker door with a key ? where I stowed my fanny pack. 

There was a pair of Thai pajamas for me to put on but I came wearing my own leotard and tights- I wasn’t sure what I should wear but I felt very comfortable in my outfit. First things first I asked where the tinkle room was and made my way there, again trying not to fall down another set of slippery wooden stairs! Finally the Thai massage began. The woman wore a face mask and those Thai pajamas in a green color. I wondered if she had a cold or was she afraid that I had cooties?

It is all about stretching and the massage begins with the legs and feet then moves up to the inner thigh and hips. My hips are not my strong point – they are tight and what she was doing was painful and awkward feeling. Even tho I do yoga daily I still have a lot of tightness and I wondered for 2 seconds if this Thai massage might help?

A big part of this trip is my intent to get a lot of Thai massage, thinking it might be the answer to loosen up my hips. Also I have some arthritis in one hip and I’m hoping for a magic cure for the inflammation. I catch a few glimpses as the lady works on me. I studied Thai massage 10 years ago as part of my massage certification and the cool thing is that the therapist uses her whole body in the process, sort of crawling over my body and using her body as a lever.  The whole thing is a push me-pull you kind of thing.  Our plan is to go to Chaing Mai in 2 weeks to study Thai massage.  Now I’m thinking this may not be realistic.  Hummm,  maybe it is a young persons occupation?  Hummm …

The hour comes to an end and the lady brings more tea. I am left by myself to get dressed and find my way out of there.  She appears as my guide, pointing me in the right direction and daylight floods my eyes and I see new clients arriving. It’s like being on a tred mill and I am swept out the door. I am left with no particular feeling after the massage, except “Where’s lunch?”  The one time I hired someone years ago to come to my home for a Thai massage, which cost $100, I felt incredible afterwards, kind of like a Happy drug high!!!  Maybe I need the two hour massage to get that feeling.