Do the Thais make use of their wonderful stretching massages or are they mainly given to tourists for money-making?
Yes many Thai people do go to massage paroles. But not the ones you will see in tourist areas. In-fact on many of the beaches you will see people given massages, a large majority of these people are not license or trained. Most real massage paroles employees will have his/her license hanging on the wall just like in a doctors office. Me and my wife will usually go once in a while on the weekends and you usually only see Thai people in the spas and paroles we go to.
Yes! Thai's do get massages all the time. Where I live in Bangkok there's a bunch of shops around. Standard price is 100 baht or 3$ for one hour massage. The massage you get in tourist areas is frankly better most of the time as they charge more, so attract better workers, yet it's perfect to get a good stretching after a hard days work.
yes. it's actually the reason why thailand became so famous of their practice. it is a part of their lifestyle. it's just that they don't have to go to any massage parlors. any thai can claim to know how to massage. it's like when you go to japan or south korea, they are known for their saunas. there's a public sauna everywhere which are so cheap. but there are sauna parlors which claims to be more therapeutic, etc.
On my last visit to Thailand I was fortunate to have a friend take me to his town, far away from the tourist scene. He took me to a wat where massage is given. About 4 or 5 Thai were in there getting massage. I was the only westerner in the place.
For stretching massage is too strong for me. My therapist applied it on me after sport massage session. One of my aunts has Thai massage regulary. Thai elderly people love it so much.
Yes Thais get massages, if you ever been in non-tourist towns you will see plenty of massage shops. I had a massage in a city called Roy Et and 99.9% of their customers are Thais.
No many, many, Thai people go for massages all the time. Most Thais prefer a massage stronger than what falang (westerner's) enjoy and many massage therapist who massage Thais suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome. Once they get this they can no longer make a strong massage and usually lose customers until they can no longer support themselves. Of course the pay for a Thai massage is about 80 baht for a two hour massage. (At least outside of Bangkok and Pattaya). Imagine a woman trying to feed children earning $2.50 for two hours work and some days you might only make 1 or 2 massages. And when you give her a tip out in the open she has to share with the boss or the receptionist. My wife is a hairdresser but we have friends/neighbors that are/were in the massage business and with the loss of the tourist trade they are really having a hard time making ends meet.
Yes, lots of Thais get massage regularly. Also it is quite common that children massage their parents or grand parents. Especially in the rural areas this is quite common.
