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History of Thai Massage

The cultures of the various Asian countries often have much in common with each other. Some of these commonalities have to do with the trade routes linking the countries and some are due to the efforts of missionary Buddhist monks. Especially in the field of the healing and martial arts, much of the knowledge traveled with these monks from India to China (and from there onwards to Japan and Korea) and from India to Thailand.

Thailand also was influenced by China, its neighbor in the North. This dual influence explains why Thai massage is similar in some ways and yet very different in others to Shiatzu,which, whilst it is a Japanese art, shows a strong Chinese influence. This is also apparent in the energy pathways, some of which are different from systems based on Chinese acupuncture meridians.

As is so often the case in the East, the exact origins of Thai massage vanish back in the mists of time. It is generally accepted that the system traces its origins back to India and it is believed that it was originated by a famous Ayurvedic doctor named Shivago Komerpaj, who is regarded as the father of the entire Thai medical system.

Unfortunately most of the written records pertaining to Thai massage were destroyed during an invasion by neighboring Burma in 1769.
What remained was carved onto the walls of Wat Po temple in Bangkok on the orders of King Rama the third.

In the past, the teacher often handed down the knowledge to one or at most a few selected students. These days there are many excellent massage schools to choose from all over Thailand. Since some of these schools also offer teacher training, training is now also available in the rest of the world.