Pleasure vs. Pain

So I have to admit, I’m a sucker for a massage and I was curious to give the classical Thai massage a go. And considering Chiang Mai is the most famous place in the world to study Thai massage, how could we not try it? The set up is outside and you’re fully clothed with maybe several beds around you so its not sleazy. Its about the same price as you pay for a Chinese massage so one afternoon, we had a spare 30 minutes and thought, why not?

I had heard the biggest difference between Thai and Chinese massage is the level of pressure applied by the masseuse. Chinese like to get in there and work those knots out. There is one Chinese lady we know who owns a little massage shop back in our city. She doesn’t speak any English except for one phrase a foreigner taught her. Every time you say, "Ouch", she counters with, “No pain, no gain!” in her high pitched, twangy Chinese accent. Not everyone is like this -- my chiropractor is wonderful -- but traditional Chinese massage isn’t for the faint hearted. Thai massage on the other hand, is supposed to be this wonderful, soft, relaxing experience...

As I was drifting into a state of relaxed, semi-consciousness, I was rudely interrupted by a loud “Ouch!”.

So I causually opened one eye and turned my head to see Jason wasn’t enjoying this nearly as much as I was. Apparently there are different methods of massage for men than women. They opted to do what seemed like a yoga type massage on him, moving his body into strange positions that either had him laughing because he’s quite ticklish or not very comfortable and relaxed to say the least. He was completely done after half and hour. I on the other hand, was only sorry they’d stopped and that I didn’t pay for the full hour. He’s kind of sworn off the Thai massage at the moment. He prefers his Chinese massage, which he says in his opinion is considerably less painful. So you can imagine his response when I suggested we try the fish massage where you put your feet in a tank of small, hungry fish who feast on your dead skin for half hour...well...I realized that perhaps too many new experiences might not be such a good idea after all. I might need a year to work him up to trying that one.