The Koh Phangan Island (or Ko Pha-ngan) in the Gulf of Thailand is perhaps best known for its so-called Full Moon Parties at the Haad Rin Beach.
Although tourism is the main industry and still booming, the island fortunately has been able to conserve many unspoiled natural areas. The interior mountains are generally hard to access and more than 50% of the island is a national park with pristine rain-forest.
Koh Phangan has a highly spiritual atmosphere which is a remarkable contrast to its (infamously) wild Full Moon Parties. The island boasts many Buddhist temples and a dynamic spa, retreat, yoga and meditation industry. Thai Boxing Muay Thai camps and Thai Cooking Schools are abundantly present on the island too.
And what about Thai Massage? In fact, there are not so much Thai Massage schools on Koh Phangan. Although— some of the spa retreats and learning centers do regularly offer Thai Massage training events. Those trainings are generally given by invited or visiting teachers, taking place in the tourist high season mostly, say November up to February.
The bigger part of the visiting Thai Massage teachers originate from Europe, Australia, Canada and the United states and Thai teachers are the exception. Nonetheless, there are some local Thai Massage schools and teachers that offer Thai Bodywork courses and workshops.
Sure, it’s obviously true that the real Thai Massage adapt would most likely be better off in Bangkok or Chiang Mai when it comes to choice of training, but on the other hand Koh Phangan has a lot to offer which certainly compensates the lack of Thai Massage course varieties and styles.
Okay then… let’s go take a look at what we’ve found!
Below a concise review (in alphabetical order) of the local Thai Massage schools and some retreats centers.