Blog - BKK #10: Thai massages

BKK #10: Thai massages

One thing famous about Thailand is the massages. They're very cheap too, usually ranging between 200฿ and 300฿ ($5-$7.50 USD) for a one hour body massage, covering feet, legs, hands, arms and back.
Both places we went were picked out of a Japanese guide book and were aimed mostly at Japanese tourists. They had signs in Japanese and also most staff seemed to speak at least basic Japanese ("itai?", "daijōbu?", ...).

It was my first time getting a professional massage and it sure was a nice experience, though not something I would afford in Japan (where prices are like 10+ times higher).

Kanokweet (Japanese site)
Sukhumvit soi 63, 1-1 (Ekkamai BTS station)
(also Sukhumvit 792, between soi 36 and 38 (Thong Lo BTS station))

This small, clean, clinic-looking place only has blind masseurs/ses. First of all our feet were washed by blind men near the entrance, a rather tickling experience (in my case anyway). Then we were taken to hospital-like beds, where we first had to change into comfortable pajamas, and our two masseuses came and got to work, quietly speaking together most of the time.
The masseuses had a speaking clock around their neck (think Public Enemy's Flavor Flav), which they used to sync their massage according to the remaining time.

Massage pictures

Arima Onsen
37/10-11 Soi Surawong Plaza Surawong Rd. Suriyawong

Oppositely from Kanokweet, Arima Onsen is very large, with probably a hundred or more masseuses, and it is rather dark. Instead of looking like a clinic, it looks a bit less informal, though very comfortable. Instead of using beds with legs (which were actually a bit scary since the masseuses sometimes stand), mattresses are on the floor and separated by curtains. Each massage space is quite minimally small.
The massage was similar to the one at Kanokweet but was a bit rougher, and at the end it involved some slightly acrobatic back and neck popping which felt very good.

Located near a sort of Japanese Kabuki-chō (a lot of signs in the area are in Japanese), most clients seemed to be Japanese oyaji who give big tips, and the masseuses there seem to be used to it. My girlfriend's masseuse was particularly annoying, telling her how cheap her salary is and how much she loves Japanese clients because they always tip... so we made it a point not to tip! (Tip isn't mandatory.) Since this is supposed to be relaxing, who wants to hear about money the whole time...?

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Posted on September 23, 2004 at 21:55 | Tweet |

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