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By Charles Agar
In Uthai Thani, some 200km north of Bangkok, the bells of Wat Nong
Yha Nang sound at 4:00am. Tonsured monks pad barefoot into the street
for the daily bin ta bhad, or begging rounds. The swish of oversized
thatch brooms can be heard in every corner and small groups of worshippers
arrive with offerings and prayers; but lay people come to this temple
compound for more than just their daily prayers. Wat Nong Yha Nang
is attached to nearby Nongchang Hospital and visitors flock from
every corner of the kingdom to be healed, not by pills and needle
jabs, but through ancient spiritual wisdom and traditional arts.
Led by well-known monk and healing practitioner, Ajahn Mai, the
temple hospital makes use of Thai herbal medicines, massage and
the laying of hands. It is reputedly a place of miracles: people
come to Wat Nong Yha Nang with paralysis and pain and walk away
free to enjoy life, in fact many have taken their first steps there
after years bound to the bed or wheelchair. The power of these ancient
traditions now comes to Bangkok in an unassuming little venture
called Malihom.
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Malihom's founder and owner Khun Natanyawit Choomkomont, or Thanya,
left her hometown north of Bangkok years ago to study nursing at
Chulalongkorn University. After working for a number of years in
the Police Hospital in Bangkok, she followed her heart and came
up with a plan: to bring the healing arts of Uthai Thani to Western
visitors in her new hideaway health oasis in the busy city centre.
"Ever since I was a child, I saw people helped at the temple,"
says Thanya, "I saw people who were paralyzed walk again. Saw
people recover from major operations very quickly." Recognizing
the healing power of the temple practices, Thanya decided that instead
of bringing people to the temple, she would bring the temple traditions
to the Thai capital. "I have many Western friends who told
me of bad experiences with massage in Thailand," says Thanya,
referring to massage places that were more about hanky-panky than
about healing or employed untrained masseuses. "I am very proud
of Thailand and very proud of Thai culture," she says, and
it is her aim to bring real Thai massage to the Western visitor
and, in doing so, unhinge any skewed perspectives of Thai traditions
as exotic and inaccessible. Employing a large staff of masseuses
trained in Uthai Thani, Thanya hopes to be an ambassador of Thai
culture, a steward of Uthai Thani traditional wisdom and bring the
curative power of her hometown and Wat Nong Yha Nang to a wider
audience.
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The facility is unremarkable from the outside. Sukhumvit Soi 8
(just north of the BTS Nana Station) is lined with bar storefronts,
budget tailors and oil massage parlours; but at the end of a little
cul-de-sac just fifteen metres from busy Sukhumvit Road, a small
fountain ripples the water in a small font made from a designer
stacked shale and laterite block, a good introduction to the quiet
interior of this little city oasis. The spa is a lovingly restored
Chinese storefront building, the result of one year's renovation
and done just right in every detail. That means wood panel walls,
slatted flooring and fine Thai decor throughout. Malihom, means
"the scent of jasmin" and refers to the bouquet of yellow
and white garlands commonly given as offerings in Thai temples and
the interior of the spa wafts with the scents of incense and fine
oils. There are large relief sculptures in the entry lounge and
a Buddhist altar and antique furniture on upper floors. Don't miss
the small statue of Gomalaphat, known as the "Doctor of the
Buddha" and the father of Thai traditional medicine. Everything
is made in Uthai Thani and the traditional elements are lovingly
arranged. Rattan chairs line the central lobby area and the second
floor hosts a large common room with six low futon beds separated
on either side of a short corridor. There is a small herbal sauna
and the top floor boasts the spa's two top-end treatment rooms complete
with wooden tubs and raised massage tables.
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What first strikes any visitor to Malihom though are the friendly
smiles of the staff. Ms. Thanya knows she's on to a good thing here
at Malihom and that has little to do with the newly opened facility
and the fine treatment rooms but is all about her well-trained masseuses.
The most senior member of the staff is a gentle septuagenarian,
Ms. Somphon, who has more than thirty years experience with healing
traditions. Her friendly, glowing presence belies her age and tells
of the effectiveness of the treatments. Ajahn Sup, the most senior
male masseur, walks into the room accompanied by the clacking of
his Buddhist amulet. A joint specialist, Sup takes his work in rehabilitation
quite seriously, using meditation to foster inner-strength to share
with clients.
Visitors to the spa are given a set of loose-fitting garments consisting
of Thai fisherman's pants and a matching loose shirt. The masseuse
performs a silent incantation, a prayer that is less a blessing
than a call to the ancestors of the tradition to give the practitioner
the power to heal. The massage technique is a slow, meticulous process
tracing the pressure points of the body: from foot to head, twisting
here, pressure there, but all quite gentle, neither pinching nor
painful. The techniques of Uthai Thani massage are as if you have
yoga done to you as masseuses gently and carefully roll clients
into the most unlikely positions. Nothing is uncomfortable about
it and masseuses are trained to react to the body type and flexibility
of each client. The massage ends with a series of dramatic stretches
where practitioner and client work together in a series of poses,
an arching stretch on the masseuses knees and a deep forward crunch
made easier now that the body is stretched and aligned. You'll experience
progress in just one treatment and will certainly want to come back
for more.
The staff at Malihom offer a whole roster of treatments including
herbal sauna and traditional Thai massage as well as foot reflexology.
The price is a good mean between expensive hotel spa treatments
and less professional (and sometimes quite dodgy) street-side venues.
Bring your aches and pains, your troubles and concerns and have
them taken away in a few hours in this unlikely oasis in the middle
of the busy city.
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