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Asia, and in particular Thailand has become one of the most popular destinations in he world for spa treatment and this is an industry that is predicted to grow in the coming years. No longer the domain of expensive hotels and resorts, and no longer days or weeks of treatment for the modern urbanite with little time as day spa centres are cropping up in every area of Thailand. Spa centres are appearing in all the major Thai destinations with emphasis on Chiang Mai and Phuket, as well as Koh Samui, Pattaya and of course Bangkok. The increasing number of spa centres are also being met with increasing quality, as the Thai government is funding better training of spa therapists to keep the standard high.
One of the reasons professed to why Thailand has become such a good spa destination is because of the already excellent reputation the Thais have for hospitable service and expert therapists. Combine this with the tradition of Thailand for natural healing arts, herbal medicine and Ancient Thai massage and you get a picture of why Thailand has become the Spa hub of Asia. The treatments themselves are becoming more advanced with anything from the Thai traditional massage to hydro therapy, Thalasso therapy and of course the more common mud and aromatherapy treatments.
What do Spa and Massage Centres in Thailand offer?
The three mains areas of spa treatments are massage therapy, facials and body scrubs.
Massage Therapy
Massage is an ancient form of therapy that dates back thousands of years in Asia and was probably the first way people used therapy for pain relief. It improves health by manipulation of the tissues and creates better blood circulation throughout the body, and is used to relieve tension and anxiety. A regular massage session can keep you psychologically and physiologically healthy, and is an excellent preventive therapy.
Asian massages include Shiatsu, Ayurvedic treatments, and of course the Thai massage. Even western developed massages like reflexology were developed with the Eastern notion of chi energy flowing through the body. Other massage treatments are also practiced in Thailand such as the ever popular Swedish massage.
Facials
A very popular service, this involves treatment of the skin, with deep cleansing, massage, moisturizing and aromatherapy. A facial treatment improves your complexion by removing impurities, tones your face and overall helps with the rejuvenating process.
Body Treatments
Body treatments are really just a facial for the whole body with much the same benefits. The most common body treatment is the body scrub which removes the dead outer layer of skin on your body leaving it feeling clean and soft. Body treatments use many different products to detoxify your body such as mud and seaweed which help with blood circulation. The end of a full body treatment is a hydrating treatment which uses oils and creams to condition the skin.
There are many types of spa centres in Thailand which are tailored to suit your individual needs, from a one hour treatment to full health retreats which can last for weeks.
Hotel Spas
This is a spa located with a hotel or resort and will often only offer a limited range of spa treatments. The better hotel spas are the ones established in the more exclusive hotels such as The Oriental, Sofitel, JW Marriot Hotel and The Westin Banyan Tree.
Destination Spas
A destination Spa is a centre dedicated solely to spa treatment and massage therapy. These will be very thorough spas with an extensive range of treatments that you can tailor to your own needs.
Health Retreats
Health retreats are much specialised centres that are designed to provide medical treatments for specific ailments. These often require staying in the centre for a period of time on a strict regime of diet and exercise depending on what programme you need.
Day Spa
The day spa designed with modern urban living in mind, generally located in cities and with short 30-60 minute refreshing treatments.
Massage Centres
A massage centre not surprising deals with just massage, but it's not all Thai massages and Swedish, Oil, Stone, Ayurvedic and Aromatherapy massages are available as well as the now very popular reflexology, acupressure and Shiatsu.
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