Beach masseuse offers treatment with prayer in Thailand

By Christiani S. Tumelap

PHUKET, Thailand (JP): Every day is beautiful at Phuket's Patong Beach. The scenery is magnificent, the food is delicious and the sun shines so brightly that sunbathers have no trouble getting a perfect tan.

Everywhere, Thais welcome you with big smile and the traditional wai greeting, by bowing slightly and placing their palms together in front of their chests.

As long as there is sunshine, the white and sparkling sandy beach of Patong is full of hundreds of tourists swimming, skiing or just lying back under colorful beach umbrellas.

There are other areas around Patong to explore, like Karon Beach, Kata Beach, Kata Noi Beach, Dino Park and the Elephant Tour Park -- all located in the south.

And when touring Phuket island tires you out, simply slip into your swimsuit. It's time to enjoy a Thai massage on the beach.

There are several Thai massage tents on Patong Beach. They offer a one-hour massage that relaxes and relieves an aching body for an average 250 baht (US$8).

Try the second tent down Thawiwong Road, about 250 meters from the three-point junction between Thawiwong and Phra Barami Road in front of Novotel Phuket Resort. There you'll meet Pawilai Baighean, a friendly 30-year-old Thai female masseuse.

Baighean has been doing Thai massages on Patong beach for at least five years.

Why on the beach?

"I like it here. On the beach, I can enjoy the beautiful scenery and ocean breeze at the same time as I massage. Many tourist also like it here because they can lay back on the beach straight after a massage," Baighean told The Jakarta Post recently.

Another reason, she said, was to give a wider opportunity, especially to "straight" tourists, to enjoy a famous Thai massage without having to visit a massage parlor.

"Many massage centers across Thailand, and also in some other countries I suppose, are actually disguised brothels," said Baighean, who usually has up to five clients a day. A package which includes sex is available for about 4,000 baht, she said.

But of course, there are also many places with well-trained masseuses who provide complete and pure traditional Thai massages only, she added.

History

Baighean said the Thai massage, or nuan borarn, has been practiced in her country for centuries. Its original rites were recorded in early Buddhist texts and its original practitioners were actually Buddhist monks in northern India around the second and first centuries B.C. It has its roots in the ancient medicine of Indian Ayurvedic and yoga practices.

The origins of Thai massage are believed to date back more than 2,500 years to a physician named Jivaka Komarbhacca, who is revered as the Father Doctor. A prayer to him is still chanted by some Thai masseuse before and after giving a massage.

Basically, there is no difference in the massages given at a parlor and on the beach.

Thai massage provides you with relaxation, balance in various focal points of the body and good blood circulation. Unlike most traditional eastern or western massage practices, Thai massage does not focus on manipulation of the muscle or joints.

Done on a mat or on the floor, it consists primarily of pressure, which is the bread-and-butter technique of the massage, on the body's energy lines and points and a variety of stretching movements.

Thai masseuses use their palms, fingers, thumbs, feet and elbows to press lightly and move along the energy lines and points in a circular movement.

The pressure applied is never hard, as the aim is to loosen and relax the body. Thai masseuses always work with their arms and backs straight so that the strength and balance of applied pressure comes mainly from the weight of their bodies. They never put direct pressure on any joints or bones, especially the knee as it is considered the most sensitive joint.

There are four basic positions for people to be in while having a massage: prone, on their side, in the supine position and seated.

Some Thai masseuses prefer to start a massage with their clients in a supine position, while others might prefer the prone position.

Baighean starts with her clients in the prone position. She applies some nice and light pressure with her palms and fingers to relieve your stiff neck, shoulders, torso, thighs and calves while you effortlessly lay face down with your arms and legs spread comfortably apart.

A relaxing head and shoulder massage is applied mostly in this position.

While still prone, one of your feet is placed on her thigh. She starts working on the sole of your foot by applying light pressure with the ball of her thumb and gently uses a circular motion with her elbow as well. This gives ultimate relaxation to a weary foot.

She works her way to the upper body, applying pressure to the calves and working on your loins and buttocks by making circular movements at particular points.

Asking you to lie face up, Baighean will again work on your thighs and feet with a combination of pressure and circular movements. Then with your knees bent, she makes the same movements on the back of your thighs and calves.

Similar work is done with the client lying on their side with their bottom leg straight and their top leg bent.

Stretching movements, which derive primarily from yoga, are applied to your arms, waist and feet, mostly in the prone and seated positions.

In the seated position, you sit cross-legged with your hands resting in front of you while the masseuse gently massages your back and shoulders.

While massaging you, Baighean will politely ask whether you have any objection to the motion she applies or whether you prefer more or less pressure.

At the end of the session, she will offer you a fresh coconut drink or cold fruit juice to complete the treatment. But before that, she will offer you the wai as she softly chants a prayer.

Na-a na-wa rokha payati vina-santi, the last phrase of the Thai massage prayer which means: We pray for the one whom we touch, that he/she will be happy and that any illness will be released from him/her.