The Thai oil massage is my favourite type of massage; it is perfect for the morning to cure hangovers, in the afternoon to cool down and have a sleep and especially in the evening to enjoy a couple of hours without drinking beer!
It is also the most likely place to be offered “extras” most of the girls working in these establishments are attractive and young so it does not need much imagination to work out what goes on behind closed curtains. You can of course just go and enjoy the massage, nothing is forced upon you.
I always find it is best to prepare for a Thai oil massage by wearing shorts and tee shirt, the oil stays on the skin for a good few hours afterwards and tight fitting clothes will absorb the oil and will be very difficult to wash clean. Most of the oils used are colourless but all are fragrant, so there is no hiding where you have been.
Thai oil massages are not for the shy, very often the girls will order you to “take off” pointing at your shorts, quite often the massage is given when you are naked, this is more to do with the oil issue rather than preparing your for other services, however as said above not for the shy, the girls do this daily so just take it in their stride. Most of the Thai oil massage establishments have separate curtained off areas that you lie in whilst the massage takes place so you will not be on public view.
Unlike the Thai traditional massage, the Thai oil massage is very relaxing and it is very easy to fall asleep whilst it is being administered, especially when the head is involved. The massage technique is a form of rubbing of the muscles using the oil to slide the hands around joints tendon and muscle. It can be quite strong but if it gets a little bit too much just say “Bow Bow” which as well as normally getting a cute giggle of the girl means literally more gentle please. If she really gets her fingers into you yell “Jep” things should calm down after that as you have just shouted out “pain”
As with the traditional Thai massage, you can order your session in 1 or 2 hour blocks. I always prefer the two hour session as it gives me more time to fall asleep and cool down.
The massages follow the established routine of starting on the back and ending on the head, after nearly two hours of being pampered it is extremely difficult to endure the final 10 minutes of soft head massage without dropping off to sleep. If like me you snore badly then this can cause embarrassment.
The Thai oil massages are normally a little more expensive than the traditional massage because of the quantity of oil used, one useful thing to remember is that if you have spent too long in the sun, you can take your own products into the massage shops, a couple of hours with Aloe Vera being massaged gently into your sunburn is far better than a splash of after sun out of the fridge
