Traditional Thai massage
Thai massage,worked the old way.
นวดไทย
No oil, no cream, and no lying still for an hour. Traditional nuad thai is closer to being stretched by someone who knows exactly where you are stiff.
- Duration
- 60 min
- Price
- 300 ฿
- Short session
- 30 min · 200 ฿
What a Thai massage actually is
You keep your clothes on — we give you loose cotton trousers and a top — and lie on a firm mattress rather than a table. The therapist works with palms, thumbs, forearms, elbows and sometimes feet, following lines through the body that Thai medicine calls sen.
About half the hour is pressure and half is assisted stretching: your arm, leg or back is moved for you, further than you would move it yourself. That is the part people remember, and the reason a Thai massage often leaves you looser than a rub with oil ever does.
It is not a gentle treatment, but it is not a fight either. The pressure is set by you, adjusted whenever you ask, and it should never make you hold your breath.
Who it suits
- Anyone stiff from long flights, scooters or too many hours at a desk
- People who want to feel worked on rather than soothed
- First-timers in Thailand who want the version the country is known for
- Anyone who dislikes oil on their skin before going back out into the day
How the hour goes
- Feet and legsWe start at the feet and work upward. It wakes the legs up and tells the therapist how much pressure you can take before anything harder begins.
- Back and hipsThe longest stretch of the hour, and usually where the problem is. Pressure along the spine, then the hips opened one side at a time.
- Shoulders and armsSitting or lying, depending on how tight you are. This is where desk and phone damage shows up.
- Neck and headSlow, and much lighter than the rest. Most people stop noticing the room somewhere around here.
Before you book
Tell us if you are pregnant, have had recent surgery, a slipped disc, a fracture that has not fully healed, uncontrolled high blood pressure, or a fever. In those cases we will either adapt the treatment or suggest an oil massage instead — a stretch-based massage is the wrong tool for a body that should not be stretched.
Do not book straight after a heavy meal. And if you have burnt in the sun, take the aloe vera instead: Thai massage on sunburnt skin is genuinely unpleasant.
Questions we get asked
Does Thai massage hurt?
What should I wear for a Thai massage?
Is one hour enough?
Book this treatment
No oil, no cream, and no lying still for an hour. Traditional nuad thai is closer to being stretched by someone who knows exactly where you are stiff.