Thai massage is one of the ancient healing arts of traditional Thai medicine, the others being herbal medicine and spiritual meditation. The term 'massage' conjures up images of something quite different from Thai massage, which even at its most basic, is a very complex sequence soft tissue pressing, stretching, twisting and joint manipulations. For this reason I prefer to use the term 'Thai body massage' rather than 'massage'.
Thai body massage has been in a process of constant evolution for over 1,000 years. It is not surprising, therefore, to find many subtle variations in the techniques used by different practitioners, and even greater differences are apparent between the styles of bodywork characteristic of the North and South of Thailand. The techniques are essentially a 'pot pourri' of those taken from various regions of the country. Beginners will find them flowing and harmonious and very similar to what one could expect to receive at the hands of a Thai master.
And now you ask in your heart, "How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from which is not good ?"
Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,
But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.
For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,
And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,
And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.
People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.
- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet