Getting Our First Thai Massage, the Real McCoy, in Chiang Mia,Thailand

We just landed in Thailand and were in Chiang Mia for a holiday. For our first full day in this city, we explored the neighbourhood near our hotel on foot. We loved being in Chiang Mia as the part of the city where we were staying was quite different from our home town of Toronto. Everything seemed so different, but in a nice way. Since Chinag Mia is much smaller in population, therefore, no traffic jam. We felt relaxed here as the pace was much slower.

Yesterday, during our walk, we passed by many houses and low rise buildings. One place caught our attention as the landscaping outside the building was pretty and calming. We went in and discovered that it was fah Lanna Spa, a massage place.

I remembered our Thai friend in Canada highly recommended us to try the Thai massage. I have had many massages before in Canada but wishing to try the reat McCoy of massage in Thailand, we made an appointment for it without any hesitation for the next day. So here we were, ready for the famous Thai massage!

This massage centre was not an ordinary Thai massage place since the fee they charged was about three times the price of the average massage in Chaing Mia. The centre was beautifully decorated with much greenery and lush tropical plants, in a way that made us feel as if we had been transported deep in the rain forest and in another world. Time seemed to have melt away and we felt unhurried in this environement which helped us breathe a little deeper and forget the world outside. Before leading us to our private massage room, the staff asked us to fill out a questionnaire about our health information and how strong we would like our massage to be carried out. Fearing that the Thai massage might be a little to much for us, we requested a light massage which was what the staff would do.

We were led into our private massage room where we changed our clothes, laying side by side with each other on the floor mat and enjoyed an hour of Thai massage. Because we requested a light massage, the staff was careful and gentle with us when they were applying their force on our bodies. We felt good but not a whole lot of difference from the massage we got in Canada. Little did we know that if we had asked for the regular massage, it would have been a whole lot different.

We received the luxurious treatmnt with drinks offered to us before our massage and a nice refreshment with drinks and local pastries after in the store's gift shop. Our Thai massage experience was so pleasant and relaxing that we slept like two babies that night at our hotel! It was well worth the money! RT, Chiang Mia, Thailand, Summer of 2025