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Massage schools in Chiang Mai |
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Subjective view of the tested massage schools |
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The Fine Art of Thai Massage |
This school is for me the best. The teacher, Mac, is the son of a very experienced masseuse and he is himself very talented. He was teacher in ITM and Old Medicine Hospital for years, and his teaching is a mixing between these 2 famous schools.More, he only accepts up to 8 students and offer a very friendly welcome (note that Mac stopped to offer a free dinner every Friday because of is new child). The 2 first levels are purely practical and the 3rd is therapy. A 4th level exists, but is available only for very experienced students because the teacher is Mac's mother, who doesn't speak English. This school reopened in october 2002, because the teacher changed the name of the school and moved to a bigger place. |
| The Fine Art of Thai Massage Phone: 0066-53-275306 Price:
2500 B/week |
OLD MEDICINE HOSPITAL |
Very good school to start. The teachers are qualified and helped by assistants. The sequence is complete and simple. A class of theory start every day from 9 AM to 10.30 AM. I found this theory lessons quiet useless and boring because it isn't directly related to a practice but the practice is good. The time for the practice can fluctuate according to the number of students, sometimes around 50 ! Note that the diploma is certified by the Ministry of Health and the school gives a masseur badge. |
| 238/8 Wuolai Road (in front of Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center) CHIANG MAI Phone: 0066 53-275085 |
Mama Nit |
Very good school for experienced students. Mama Nit is a old woman who started to give massage when she was very young. She is the daughter of a Chinese doctor and healed a lot of Thai patients for many years. Thus she has a very advanced practical knowledge. The atmosphere of the school is very friendly and the teaching is mainly directed on practice. The organization of the class is sometimes disturbed by the lack of session and students arriving or leaving anytime. Therefore it's a second experience school. Mama can teach very advanced movements and to stay one month with her is very improving. Her work is based on therapy and nerves treatment. Last news: Mama Nit starts to be tired because of her age and most of the time delegates to an assistant. This reduces the quality of the teaching, mainly based on Mama's long experience. |
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Chaiyaphum Road Soi 2 Price: +-2000 B/week (decreasing prices if stay more) No levels but 3 kinds of classes/books (5d/10d/15d). Study
time: Monday to Saturday, 10 AM - 4 PM |
ITM |
This is time for me to seal the fate of the untruthful advertising of this school. First the teacher is very smart and very greedy. He refused to give back the money of a sick French student. She went to Tourism Police to finally get back the registration fee. John (the rumour says he's an ex-lawyer) is so foxy that he offers a discount if you buy all the levels in one payment (not refundable). More, he shifts the schedule so everyone can accumulate the levels. Example: 1st level at 10 AM, 2nd level at 2 PM and 3rd level at 4 PM. Therefore all the clients (not students) can study the 3 levels together in one week for 7500 B !!! And these students don't have any practice because no time... Therefore even if this school had before some excellent teachers like the German woman Doris (I salute her tremendous talent, now she doesn't teach in ITM anymore), it doesn't worth except for the first 2 levels. The 3rd and 4th (therapy) are limited to 1 hour of theory per day (the school owner divided this theory in 2 levels to make more money) and the levels 5 - 6 (teachers) are uninteresting (it is not sufficient to seat and look the students to become a good teacher!). The video tape I bought is very bad quality and very expensive like everything in ITM. Main interest: the stretching exercises in the morning between 9 AM and 10 M. This school is also often overcrowded. It doesn't worth the less expensive, bigger and more professional Old Medicine Hospital. Last news: ITM bought in oct. 2002 the building nextdoor to have more space. |
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Lek Chaya |
It was far the worst school I tried. Lek Chaya is a very experienced masseuse and she is very famous in Chiang Mai. The teaching is the same whatever is the student experience and the students arriving in the middle of the course disturb considerably. More, the course is composed by a elementary sequence of a bad selection of movements (some of them are advanced and difficult to control). The teacher is good but it is not enough to make a valuable school, and so expensive, especially because the teching is given by an assistant! |
| Ratchamoen Rd Price: 3600 B/week No levels Study time: everyday, |
Wat Po |
Quiet good school but very expensive. The teachers are not equally good. Some of them don't know the energy lines or just don't care. The sequence of movements is very good and easy to remember. The first level is purely focused on practice and the 2d is therapy. |
| The
Wat Po's Thai Traditional Massage School Price: 7000 B/5 d or 10 half-days |
The Union of Traditional Thai Medicine |
Good price and good atmosphere. Four different courses: The school is small and the student number limited. |
| The Union of Traditional Thai Medicine Phone:053 274339 Price: 3000 B/10 days |
LOI KHROH |
Bad teacher, basic course. The teacher, Coocky Tassanee, learned Thai massage in Wat Po and Old Medicine Hospital and obviously to have a good teacher job with good money (she comes from a poor family). I guess that she has no real interest for Thai massage because she is not gifty (on the contrary to her occasional Japanese assistant) and full of bad energy. More,the school is very new and the teacher started to teach after only 1 year of practice and she pretends to know everything about therapy... She hides her real interest and her bad character with a big smile that fools nobody. Especially the assistants working with her whom endure her lack of humanity and respect. The school is linked to a good massage salon and it is a pity that the masseuses and the reception have to support the vulgarity of the female boss. |
| 1/2 Loi Khroh Road Soi 3 Price 4600 / 3 days
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Others |
Here are some informations I received from students I met. I will develop them in the new website later... Poo: 2 students received a costy 1000 B) massage from this
advanced teacher and came back with a stiff neck, another with a backpain. Chayut: he is dead in early 2004. Pichet: very very advanced teacher but with a very unstable health because of his age. Still the best to learn therapy massages. |
| Poo Price: 18000 B/10 days!!! Chayut Pichet Price: 4000 B/week
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Key words: Deeper sensitivity and awareness combined with new techniques using thumbs, palm, elbows, knees and feet create a dynamic repertoire for application by the student. This internship will continud the massage to the another positions of Ancient Thai Massage to Side, Back and Sitting position, review and more detail of introductory class then work all the whole body include with the techniques of 1 HR or 2 HR Massage. All students will be able to do a full body NUAD BO-RARN session - after this class, also with some acupressure points.traditional thai massage school chiang mai itm course therapy thailand lek chaya itm old medicine hospital teach teacher diploma masseur masseuse schools price lesson schedule wat po wat pho wat po wat pho Students learn the concept of initiating "energy" movement through the body. Meridians, main energy lines, pressure points, and various manifestations of the body's physical, psychological and spiritual balance are all introduced. Additional emphasis in this massage is placed on deeply focused abdominal work. All the students will be able to do a complete set of massage in the front part of the body after this segment, also with some back and upper part.thai massage The spiritual atmosphere surrounding the practice remains intact today. Before each session, the practitioner folds his hands and prays for help from the universe and from the father of Thai massage, Jivaka Komarabhacca. This preliminary meditation also serves to quiet the mind and focus energy on the task at hand. The practitioner then rubs his hands together to induce heat and begins applying pressure to the recipient's feet, eventually moving upward to the head. The stretching at times looks intense and uncomfortable. but Setthakorn assures us it is measured carefully against the capacity of the recipient. Some are more limber than others, but the technique does not inflict pain. Asked how he is able to control the amount of stretching. Chiang Mai says he simply "feels how much the client can take." The practice is tied to the theory that the body Consists of some 72,000 energy lines, called SEN, roughly equivalent to the meridians of Chinese acupuncture. Diagrams of the SEN show the relationship between the energy points and their potential effects. began teaching at the Old Medicine Hospital in Chiang Mai. Thailand. in 1985. He began with one student every couple of months, but soon saw a sharp escalation of business in In the six years since. Chongkol has taught more than 1.500 students from 42 countries, many of them Western tourists who stumbled upon Chiang Mai and decided to extend their visits in order to learn Thai massage. Others came to Thailand specifically to learn the technique after hearing about Chongkol, who is proficient in English and one of only a few certified instructors in Thailand.Thai MassageTherefore even if this school has excellent teachers like the German woman Doris (I salute her tremendous talent), it doesn't worth except for the first 2 levels. The 3rd and 4th (therapy) are limited to 1 hour of theory per day (the school owner divided this theory in 2 levels to make more money) and the levels 5 - 6 (teachers) are uninteresting (it is not sufficient to Chiang Mai and look the students to become a good teacher!).Deeper sensitivity and awareness combined with new techniques using thumbs, palm, elbows, knees and feet create a dynamic repertoire for application by the student. This internship will continud the massage to the another positions of Ancient Thai Massage to Side, Back and Sitting position, review and more detail of introductory class then work all the whole body include with the techniques of 1 HR or 2 HR Massage. All students will be able to do a full body NUAD BO-RARN session - after this class, also with some acupressure points.traditional thai massage school chiang mai itm course therapy thailand lek chaya itm old medicine hospital teach teacher diploma masseur masseuse schools price lesson schedule wat po wat pho wat po wat pho Students learn the concept of initiating "energy" movement through the body. Meridians, main energy lines, pressure points, and various manifestations of the body's physical, psychological and spiritual balance are all introduced. Additional emphasis in this massage is placed on deeply focused abdominal work. All the students will be able to do a complete set of massage in the front part of the body after this segment, also with some back and upper part.thai massage The spiritual atmosphere surrounding the practice remains intact today. Before each session, the practitioner folds his hands and prays for help from the universe and from the father of Thai massage, Jivaka Komarabhacca. This preliminary meditation also serves to quiet the mind and focus energy on the task at hand. The practitioner then rubs his hands together to induce heat and begins applying pressure to the recipient's feet, eventually moving upward to the head. The stretching at times looks intense and uncomfortable. but Setthakorn assures us it is measured carefully against the Wat Pho of the recipient. Some are more limber than others, but the technique does not inflict pain. Asked how he is able to control the amount of stretching. Chiang Mai says he simply "feels how much the client can take." The practice is tied to the theory that the body Consists of some 72,000 energy lines, called SEN, roughly equivalent to the meridians of Chinese acupuncture. Diagrams of the SEN show the relationship between the energy points and their potential effects. began teaching at the Old Medicine Hospital in Chiang Mai. Thailand. in 1985. He began with one student every couple of months, but soon saw a sharp escalation of business in In the six years since. Chongkol has taught more than 1.500 students from 42 countries, many of them Western tourists who stumbled upon Chiang Mai and decided to extend their visits in order to learn Thai massage. Others came to Thailand specifically to learn the technique after hearing about Chongkol, who is proficient in English and one of only a few certified instructors in Thailand.Thai MassageTherefore even if this school has excellent teachers like the German woman Doris (I salute her tremendous talent), it doesn't worth except for the first 2 levels. The 3rd and 4th (therapy) are limited to 1 hour of theory per day (the school owner divided this theory in 2 levels to make more money) and the levels 5 - 6 (teachers) are uninteresting (it is not sufficient to Chiang Mai and look the students to become a good teacher!).