What Is Authentic Thai Massage?

Those who want to have a Thai Massage but don’t know what or how Thai Massage is, will most likely prefer to have a traditional, authentic Thai Massage treatment. Of course.

Yet, authentic Thai Massage doesn’t really exist. Or let me say it differently — there are several types and styles of traditional massage in Thailand, which are all more or less “authentic,” if you want to put it that way.

But don’t worry, because most fortunately authentic or traditional Thai massages, whatever the style or lineage, all have certain elements in common, and we will discuss “the core Thai Massage session” further below in this post.

Treatment Location

An authentic Thai Massage is usually done in a suitable, calm, non-public space on the floor on a special mat and basically not given with the receiver sitting in a chair or lying on a massage table.

Clothing

A traditional Thai Massage is given clothed, meaning both masseur and client wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothes.

Treatment Scope

An original Thai Massage session is always a full-body massage, that is, all parts of the body are worked on, from head to toes, and the client will be “put” in various positions, such as lying on the stomach, lying on the back, sitting, and sometimes also lying on the sides.

Furthermore, the aim of a session can be of a preventive, relaxative or therapeutic nature.

Concepts

The concept behind a traditional Thai Massage is to unblock and clear the Thai Sib Sen Energy lines in order to promote the free flow and balance of Vital Life Force called Lom Pran (or Qi, Prana, and the like).

The goal is to bring our mind, body and energy system into cooperative harmony and help the body’s self-healing and regeneration processes to function in an optimal way.

Tools and Additions

Typically, authentic Thai Massage doesn’t use any tools or additions, such as props, sticks, oils, creams, and so on. It’s a manual therapy with no extras added.

Techniques

The masseur may use all of his or her body parts to give the massage, meaning hands, forearms, elbows, knees, and feet, to name the most commonly used.

Additionally, an authentic Thai Massage will, at the minimum, incorporate palm-pressure, acupressure and stretches.