For travellers in pursuit of relaxing health holidays, Thailand is a unique wellness destination featuring dozens of first-class spas and wellness retreats that offer a vast range of pampering, beauty and body treatments stemming from age-old health and beauty traditions from around Asia and beyond.

Visitors to Thailand can experience a plethora of unusual spa treatments derived from ancient traditions in Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, China, India and elsewhere. Nowhere else can such a depth and range of choices be found in a one-stop health and beauty destination. The following is a small sampling of some of the fascinating Asian spa and wellbeing treatments available in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai.

Thai Healing Traditions
Herbal lore and monastic healing techniques are key elements in Thailand’s longstanding health and beauty practices. They include traditional Thai massage, Thai herbal steam, herbal baths and warm herbal compresses. These treatments use indigenous herbs and herbal formulas that have been handed down the centuries through generations of Thai women.

The most well known and popular body therapy is the traditional Thai massage, which is in fact a holistic therapy that originated from the culture of ancient India, and arrived in the kingdom of Siam through Buddhist missionary monks who were trained as healers. The massage technique spread through the country along with the spread of Buddhism and gained popularity for its ability to relieve ailments like backaches, headaches, tension and fevers by releasing blocked energy lines in the body.

Heat therapy using herbal ingredients is a distinguishing feature of traditional Thai health and beauty practices. The soothing Thai herbal steam’s healing secret lies in its key ingredients using indigenous Thai herbs such as turmeric, prai, lemongrass, camphor and kaffir lime. Thai herbal steam boosts the circulation, respiratory system, and improves the complexion. It was part of traditional post-natal treatments to restore the body’s shape and condition after the rigors of childbirth. The Thai warm herbal compress is made of medicinal herbs wrapped in a bundle of cloth and heated with steam. This is then pounded on tense muscles or stiff joints, and is administered in combination with a massage.

These distinctive traditional treatments are offered in almost every spa in Thailand and provide rejuvenating benefits that leave the client feeling refreshed and relaxed.

Burmese Beauty Bark
A familiar sight in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is the yellow thanaka smeared over the faces of Burmese women and children. The yellowish paste is applied in a variety of methods ranging from a casual smear to elaborate patterns, as a light coating or a thick mask. Unlike western eye shadow and blusher, Burmese thanaka isn’t used as make up, but is more of a daily hygiene ritual that maintains the skin’s health and condition. Thanaka is a multi-purpose product that cools the skin, tightens the pores and controls oiliness. It even acts as an insect repellent and sunblock in the bright tropical daylight. Women who work in the paddy fields use thanaka as a thick mask on their faces and arms, and it is applied liberally on children to protect their young skin. While thanaka is available as powder and cream, like most herbal treatments it is most effective when freshly made by grinding the thanaka tree branch with water on a special stone slab. Ready-made thanaka products are now making their way out of Myanmar to other Asian consumers interested in natural beauty products. In Bangkok, some spas have introduced thanaka body scrubs and wraps to beautify and soften the complexion.