22. The marvellous hands of Thai masseurs

By Filipe Morato Gomes	Where is Bangkok?
I spent some time in Bangkok, Thailand, where I had the chance to attend to a full moon party on the streets around the infamous Khao San Road and Chao Phraya River, before moving to Koh Samet and try for the first time a wonderful Thai massage on the beach. Bangkok and Koh Samet - two completely different places worth visiting.

I left Cambodja feeling that there would be far more things to assimilate about the recent history of the country and its indulgent people. However, I decided to keep travelling towards Thailand. Eleven hours after having sat on a passengers' van I arrived in Bangkok, right on time to attend to the full moon festival which took place that night in Thailand's capital.

Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha), Bangkok

Bangkok was profusely lit and there were thousands of people wandering on the streets, just like a typical Portuguese street party like S. João in Porto. Small gifts to the gods consisting of flower settlings wrapped in banana leafs containing candles, incenses and a coin were thrown into the river. The whole town was partying, people were cheerful, the businessmen smiling. I could not have chosen a better way to forget the jolts of so many hours on the road.

Luckily I also had the opportunity to practice my mother tongue and walked without any plan accompanied by a Brazilian friend along the banks of Chao Phraya River and the streets near Khao San Road - the infamous, love or hate it, ghetto for independent travellers from all around the world.

In the streets, amidst the crowd of pedestrians, it was possible to observe something very strange. Obese and old men, the white skin revealing their European provenience, walked along the streets hand in hand with beautiful, young, attractive Thai girls. I had heard about this phenomenon, of course. However, seeing their faces of handsome conquerors at the side of someone who was apparently to look for the opportunity to have a better life is not a pleasant view at all. I know it is not prostitution, but it isn't just sex or real love either. Some days latter and without meaning to I end up travelling to a popular shelter where most of those couples dedicate themselves, let us say, to love. Koh Samet, an island just four hours' drive away from Bangkok.

A beach in Koh Samet, Thailand

Samet is an island with only 13 square kilometres. Yet it is very well located for people who live in Bangkok. No one would compare its beaches with those in southern Thailand but even so Samet is a place worth a couple of days of a traveller's attention. Either for its warm, crystal-clear waters or for the welcoming atmosphere of the bungalows spread along the several bays of the eastern coast of the island; or for the intimacy of a dinner had at the primitive light of an oil candle right on the sand. And of course, for the opportunity to feel in one's body the brilliant hands of women and men who dedicate themselves to the millenary art of the Thai massage. In Koh Samet, they do put their talent at the disposal of the visitors. I couldn't help trying.

Lying on the sand of Phutsa beach and protected by the shade of a palm-tree, I was about to fall asleep if one or another occasional sore-like movement did not keep me awake. The thai masseuse used mainly her hands to do her job, but her arms, elbows, legs as well as the feet were also used. With movements which were not always pleasant or painless. However, around two euros and thirty minutes afterwards, the body looked rejuvenated and besides that, even a small muscle pain I had before, had disappeared. A terrific experience!

Back to Bangkok, I prepared myself to head to the North of Thailand and satisfy the will to meet some ethnic minorities that inhabit it that region of the country. After a similar experience in the northwest of Vietnam, I know it will be worthwhile. I got on a rotten bus and prepared myself for another uncomfortable night.

(originally written in Portuguese)

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