I had the best massage I've ever had in Thailand!! A Thai massage is done fully clothed, although they may give you a pair of looser pants to change into. The massage is equal parts passive yoga (i.e. they manipulate you into interesting positions) and part muscle massage. Somehow they keep their hands incredibly warm during the massage, so it feels sooo good. After 1 hour, I really wanted to stay for a second hour!

After the great feeling, the price is the best thing about a Thai massage. I got mine for about US$3; although if you get one in an area that caters to foreign tourists, it will be more expensive.

During my latest visit to Bangkok in November 2004, I was shocked to find out that the famous Traditional (not body, mind you) Thai Massage has doubled in price from the rate that I used to pay awhile back. Now you have to pay around 300bt for 1 hour as opposed to 2 hours! After the first massage during the second day of my visit, which was done in a temple, I decided to forget about it, as it was too expensive for my budget.

However, during the third day of my visit, I happened to visit Fortune Town Mall (housing a Tesco outlet), which you can reach by the underground train, stopping at Thai Cultural Village. Surprise, surprise! The rate is 330 bt for 2 hours! It is almost the same as in the pass. I jumped into it, and it was just as good! Only then I realised that you need to avoid the city center and find your way to cheaper outlets that are quite easily accessible by using either the MRT or Underground Train!

A traditional Thai massage is definitely not to be missed while in Thailand. There are many reputable massage shops in all of the tourist areas. I asked our trip leader for recommendations for the best places to go and was never disappointed.

All of the massages that I had were very similar. I think that there are just a few massage schools in Thailand, the most well known being Wat Po in Bangkok, and they seem to teach a similar method. You are typically in a small room that contains about four mattresses on the floor. Thai massages are fully clothed and often there is someone else getting a massage right next to you. The massage seems more like accupressure and focuses mostly on feet, legs, and arms. They work on your back and neck very little, which is different from what I expected. It was still absolutely heavenly. One full hour of pampering under $5. There were some aspects that some may not like – mostly involving getting your body twisted in strange directions. I liked it because I am flexible, but I didn’t think my husband would since he is as flexible as a two by four. Other types of massage available are foot only, foot reflexology, and oil massage.

Did I mention that you are supposed to wear your clothes for traditional Thai massage? While we were on our Hilltribe trek in the Chiang Mai area, our guide from the Karen tribe gave us each a short massage to show us the difference between Thai massage and Karen massage. While some of us were sitting around the fire, we heard a woman named Lisa by the cabin say "Mary, what are you doing?!"

Mary said "I’m getting a massage." And Lisa said "Mary! They don’t take their clothes off for massage here!" Of course Mary didn’t know any better, and normally it wouldn’t be that big of deal. But did I mention that our guide from the Karen tribe was a 14 year old boy? I bet he has a story for his friends when he gets back to the village. He actually handled it quite professionally, but we all teased Mary endlessly (yes, we’re terrible).