Wat Pho and the art of Thai massage

As a young visitor doing the touristy rounds of the old part of Bangkok in the '90s, I was drawn to an old temple across the Grand Palace of Bangkok, near the Chao Phraya river. Inside the temple was a large image of the reclining Buddha covered with gold - or perhaps it was made of pure gold? After lighting a few incense sticks and praying at the foot of the humongous Buddha statue (the feet were higher than the crown of my head!), I started walking around the temple grounds of Wat Pho (wat is the Thai word for temple). The huge Thai temple had a large four-sided building in the middle and a courtyard with many stupas and eight-foot statues towering above the crowd. The main building in the center was made of wood - teakwood, I believe, and rather old. I learned that Wat Pho has been under the Royal Patronage of the King of Thailand since the time of King Rama I, more than 200 years ago. This means the temple is closely managed by the Royal Family, which also nurtures the monks that take care of the temple. Wat Pho is famous for creating the art of Thai massage and setting up the first Thai massage school in Thailand. With my customary inquisitiveness, I ended up at the old building with window grills, where a number of local masseurs were administering Thai massage to a few patients stretched out on wooden beds and cots.

I remember lying down on a rickety cot and getting massaged by an elderly guy. I recall the incident now in a funny light -- although at that time I was slightly distressed. The big room didn't have airconditioning, and my position near the door meant that every foreign tourist passing by could get a glimpse of me trying to enjoy my first taste of Thai massage. As time passed, and after 12 years in Bangkok, I can say with confidence that I love Thai massage, especially the Wat Pho style. Origins Most people may not be familiar with "Wat Pho Thai massage" but it is actually a well-known brand in Thailand, and even in Southeast Asia, as a hallmark of authentic Thai massage. People from as far away as Norway and Finland fly to Bangkok just to take a few lessons of Thai massage at this school. But first, let’s recall its illustrious history. The story goes that when the seat of the Kingdom was established in Bangkok (formerly known as Krungthep) some 300 years ago, visiting Chinese traders brought with them their traditional medicine man who was skilled in the art of massage. His knowledge was passed on to the local population of Bangkok. At the time, the abbot of Wat Pho had taken charge of caring for the sick, and thus, he was tasked to study this ancient art of massage. Wat Pho was established as a proponent of Thai massage, and students from the farther reaches of the Kingdom came to the temple to study the craft. The art of Thai massage became very popular, mostly used by the monks of Wat Pho to treat the sick and aged. Because the Kingdom was opening its doors to foreign visitors, the wise King Rama III thought that it was prudent to gather all the knowledge of Thai massage in writing and kept for posterity. The King convened a council to deliberate and take steps to record the details of the craft, and Wat Pho was entrusted with the task of propagating the tradition of Thai massage. Moreover, the knowledge of Thai massage was engraved in stone in a pavilion in Wat Pho's courtyard. A number of Thai sculptures were also commissioned, depicting the different poses of Thai yoga. These are closely guarded in the grounds of Wat Pho to this day. The art of Thai massage "Basically, it's the use of local traditional herbs and the balancing of the four elements in the body -- earth, wind, fire, water -- that makes Thai massage unique," explained Serat Tangtrongchitr, general manager of Wat Pho's Thai Traditional Medical School. "We use local herbs like kasumuna, a yellow ginger-like type of tuber, lemongrass and khafir lime," said Serat. "We apply these on the body to relieve tension on the muscles and nerves, and induce good blood circulation." Serat says the main objective of Thai massage is to improve blood circulation by applying pressure on several muscle groups using the "line and point technique," similar to Chinese acupressure. In the use of herbs and hot compresses, however, Thai massage is similar to India's ayurvedic massage. "To share this knowledge of the healing properties of Thai massage to others in Thailand and the world, we formally opened the Wat Pho Thai Traditional Massage and Medical School in 1954," said Serat. "Right now, from what used to be just the temple grounds that we use for massage, we have branched out to five other buildings and a much bigger campus for the school in Salaya, a suburb of Bangkok," he added. Meeting kababayans at the massage school Invited to sit in the Thai massage classes recently, I took a peek at the women's massage courses. There are several offered at the school -- from the basic introductory course of five days to the professional levels of 1 to 2 months. There, I met three Filipino women enrolled in the course. Libay works for a 5-star resort in Qatar. She decided to spend her holiday in Bangkok to pursue her dream of studying Thai massage. "It was my personal preference to study this," said Libay, referring to the Thai massage that she was giving to a fellow student in the massage room – a requirement for the course. "I have a background in massage, such as Swedish massage," said Libay, "but no certificate. After finishing this, I intend to share the knowledge to my co-workers at the resort." She is looking forward to completing her studies and getting the internationally-recognized Thai massage certificate given to every student who passes the course. Meanwhile, Luisa Kaiser-Lozares flew to Bangkok from Switzerland and signed up for a 20-day course. In addition to Thai massage, she is learning foot massage (Wat Pho-style) and other courses in preparation for putting up a Thai massage center in Switzerland, where she has been a resident for the past 25 years. She considers the knowledge gained from the school priceless. Despite the distance, she says the course in Bangkok is more cost-effective than if she took a similar course in Switzerland. I met the third Filipina while Luisa and I were eating in one of the delicious street food stalls at Khaosan road, the backpacker district of Bangkok. Daphne Ann Abatayo sat beside our table and heard Luisa and me talking in Tagalog and English. Serendipitously, Daphne Ann was also taking a massage course at Wat Pho to complement her part-time work as a yoga teacher in her native city of Cebu. Having studied hatha yoga in Bangalore in India, Daphne said several of the Thai massage stretching poses were similar to yoga poses. Daphne said her latest training would come in handy once she migrates to the UK, where she will reside with her British future hubby. All three women had one thing in common: all wanted to learn Thai massage for their personal and career advancement, all were spunky and gung-ho in traveling and learning a new skill in a foreign country, and all had bright hopes for the future. – YA, GMANews.TV