Sticks that heal
Okura spa brings the benefits of bamboo massage to Bangkok
For any spa lover, Bangkok must surely offer the greatest range of treatment choices anywhere in the world. Over the last few months alone, I’ve been pampered and pummelled with Thai Swedish and Balinese massage, aromatic therapy, hot stones and covered in herbal and rice poultices.
However, being kneaded with a hot bamboo stick was a completely new experience.
Offered by the Okura Spa in the heart of Bangkok’s downtown, the “Hot Bamboo” massage may be new to Bangkok but is in fact an ancient treatment common to both Chinese and Japanese traditional medicine. In Japan, it’s called Take massage and it remains popular with both men and women.
The spa, which is part of the Okura hotel chain, is not only tranquil but elegant and clean with a few modern touches that are pleasing to the eye.
The sticks themselves are about 30 centimetres in length and made from a golden species of Japanese bamboo only found in deep forest.
Once heated, the therapist uses the sticks to apply deep tissue pressure without physical exertion. The temperature of the sticks is about right, not too hot but warm enough to penetrate and soothe. That’s similar to the hot stone treatment but while the stone can burn the skin if the therapist isn’t skilled, the sticks tend to quickly cool off.
When the bamboo sticks are rolled on the back or shoulders, they are quite rigid. Applied with essential oil, they become slippery cylinders and it’s essential that the therapist is trained in controlling her motions. It is a nice experience though I have to admit feeling like cookie dough being flattened. The focus is more on a full body massage than one specific tension area, since the stick allows for a greater surface area.
The spa also offers “Okura Gateway”, which uses the amethyst stone as the key ingredient in an essential oil blend. Supichaya Srihiranthanachod, the spa’s operations manager, explains that this semi-precious stone, once worn by mediaeval European soldiers as a form of protection in battle, is placed on the third eye (referred to as the “crown chakra”) to balance physical, mental and emotional energy.
“The amethyst helps to drive away anger, fear and anxiety and to promote self-stability,” she says. “Most customers at our hotel are businessman. If they come to relax at our spa, the amethyst essential oil will help them feel calm and refresh their minds for the next meeting, while nourishing the skin and giving it a healthy glow.
“Our principal theme is quality of life. Fully trained therapists use only the purest organic oils as they take you on a relaxing journey, releasing locked tension and allowing personal energies to flow freely. Our objective is to generate a feeling of calm and wellbeing to your inner world,” she says.
The Okura Spa is an integral part of the newly opened Okura Prestige Bangkok, a five-star hotel with 240 rooms and suites with direct access to the BTS Ploenchit station. The spa itself has very limited treatment space, only three rooms for single treatment oil massage, one room designed for couples and another for Thai massage.
‘TAKE’ A NICE RUB
<< Located on the 25th floor of the Okura Prestige Bangkok, the spa is open daily from 10am to 10pm.
<< The Hot Bamboo massage costs Bt3,600 for 90 minutes and the Okura Gateway goes for Bt3,500 for 60 minutes, and Bt5,000 for 90 minutes.
<< Book a session at |(02) 687 9000 or visit |www.OkuraBangkok.com.
