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Pinit Soysuwan is the Director of the Traditional Thai Massage
Training Center in Phuket Town. Together with his partner and wife,
Peangchit Lim In, they are busy teaching local Thais how to give
a massage that combines both ancient healing and modern relaxation
techniques.
"Traditionally, all peoples in Southeast Asia used massage
in the home as we are a rice cultivation culture. At the end of
a working day, family members would massage one another to work
out muscle stress from bending over either planting or cultivating
rice," explains Acharn Pinit.
While traditional massage was practiced to relax muscles, a more
technical and medical massage was brought from India with Buddhism.
Historically the Buddhist monks were the doctors and herbalists
for a village. As long as 2000 years ago, these monks developed
a medical massage which focused on the energy points or meridiens
of the body. With the introduction of Buddhism, the monks brought
their system of healing through massage and today what is taught
as Thai massage is a combination of the two systems.
Thai massage as taught by Acharn Pinit at his training center,
does not use the more aggressive forms of massage but the therapist
works with the stress of each client's body.
"Our goal is to improve flexibility and ease of movement.
I work primarily with surface muscles and nerves," continues
Pinit. "I am very interesting in teaching massage to visitors
if they have the time to learn. We offer courses from 60 to 180
hours which can make a valuable contribution for anyone who wants
to share massage with friends of family."
For information on either a course in Thai massage or to book a
one or two hour massage at the Traditional Thai Massage Training
Center, contact Acharn Pinit at (66 76) 250 157 in Phuket Town.
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