As with most massages, Thai massage is a wonderful experience. You will be jabbed, stretched, pummeled, poked,pretzled, flattened, cuddled and stepped on. It’s great! In fact, it was the second thing I did upon landing on Lanta and it was so nice, I went twice! On Lanta, the massage spas are everywhere and are peaceful places to get massaged by a nice Thai lady. The price is 300B per hour and there is no competitive pricing.
Now in Ao Nang, it is a very different experience. First of all, they have “massage specials” as well as “special massage”. THESE ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS! Just in case you aren’t sure, here are some tips to make sure you get the massage you are after whether it is the “happy hour special” or the “special happy ending”.
The “regular” massage will be the ones in the large mass-massage huts near the beach or the ones with windows open to the street so you can see inside. They are also staffed by ladies (often older) in a nice uniform or conservative casual clothing.
The “special” massage places are peppered amongst the regular ones but with younger more attractive women who will take you into a more secluded place with covered windows or down a hallway.
When walking down the street, any ladies NOT currently giving a massage will swarm you and try to get you to come in, some offering little flyers and even gifts of fruit. As a woman, I do not get offered the “special” massage and found for the most part, those girls won’t make eye contact and some even dash away because, heaven forbid should I ask for a happy ending! Haha!
There is fierce competition in Ao Nang for massage. At the end of the beach there is a whole cluster of huts and they are named “#1 Massage” and go up to “#14 Massage”. Most of the resorts have large open spas and offer a Happy Hour special of 50% off from 10am-2pm. So as I was considering spending 200B to take a boat to another beach, I opted instead to spend half that and get a massage. That’s right, a one hour massage at the beach for a whopping $4 (canadian). These places are very busy and the ladies are all chatting and giggling while they do their thing but for $4, who cares? It’s still fantastic!
Now for one last piece of extremely valuable advice. If you have a pre-existing condition, proceed with caution!! For the most part, they don’t speak or understand much english so trying to explain your whiplash or writer’s cramp might not make sense, nor will they likely know how to treat it properly. However, it IS VERY WISE to tell them if you have….say….a broken toe. There is nothing that can jolt you out of beachside relaxation quite like someone bending your busted toe all willy nilly. Thankfully, it was a forward bend of all toes at once. A bit flustered by this, the lady sternly said something to her coworkers while shaking her head and went to get a jar of green goo that she then slathered on the offending toe. I have no idea what it was but the little piggy is still attached.
Ao Nang was more than just a cheap massage, though. I’m heading to Koh Phangan in the morning for another quiet beach-hut experience so I’ll update once I’m settled.
