Thai Spa Book. Chami Jotisalikorn

it up

      Thai herbal practitioners have long recognised that the application of heat on the skin enhances the healing effects of herbs—hence the tradition of using herbal steams, saunas and heated compresses. Inspired by the age-old heat treatments used in Thai traditional medicine, modern-day spas have adapted this concept to create the Thai herbal body wrap.

      First, you warm up in the herbal steam, then have a bracing body scrub to exfoliate dead surface skin, and finally a herbal mixture is massaged onto the entire body. You are then wrapped, mummy-like, in plastic and left cocooned under a blanket. Some spas may wrap you in a heated blanket to relax the muscles and induce sweat, while others use regular blankets whose natural warmth helps activate the heating effects of particular ingredients in the herbal mixture. As the body lies in the herbal wrap, the combination of heat and herbs takes effect—the heat helps open the pores, allowing for better absorption of the ingredients into the skin, and the herbal wrap works to detoxify, moisturise and soften the skin, depending on the particular mix of ingredients used.

      Just as traditional healers had their own recipes for herbal remedies depending on their locality, the various Thai spas have their own versions of herbal body wraps that offer different therapeutic benefits. Bangkok's Oriental Spa harnesses natural ingredients that have been used in herbal healing for centuries in its Oriental Herbal Wrap Treatment. They use the following ingredients:

      Thai White Mud (dinsaw pong)—helps draw out impurities, heals wounds, clears rashes

      Turmeric—antibacterial skin freshener

      Camphor—cleanses minor infections

      Mint—antiseptic and antibacterial

      Tamarind—contains vitamin C and calcium

      Honey—heals and moisturises the skin

      Milk—moisturises and softens the skin.

      All the products are applied on the body and you're wrapped in plastic sheet. After 20 minutes it's washed off and the result is smoother, softened skin, with a healthy, radiant glow.

      The versatile banana leaf is put to myriad uses in Thai culture, from food wrappers to plates. Some Thai spas, such as the Lanna Spa at the Regent Chiangmai, use banana leaves as part of exotic herbal body wrap treatments.

      Healing turmeric root lends the distinctive yellow glow to the Oriental Herbal Wrap mixture shown here.

      thai tonics

      Looking good is not just a matter of what you put on the outside of your body; good looks come from within. A radiant complexion, healthy hair and skin and general well-being aren't the result of a beauty product or two. While it takes real will power to make radical changes in your diet, the easiest way to make a transition from unhealthy eating habits to a better new you is to start with what you drink.

      The key to a good complexion is water—and plenty of it. Drinking lots of mineral water throughout the day not only makes you feel good, but keeps your skin hydrated and prevents it from looking parched. If you are watching your weight, a high water intake makes you feel less hungry. Try mixing a little fruit juice with mineral water and drink it half an hour before meals. Since your body takes 20 minutes to register feeling full, the juice will help cut your appetite by raising your blood sugar level.

      Drink plenty of fresh fruit juices naturally rich in vitamins and minerals and avoid chemically concocted, artificially flavoured sodas. In a country abundant with luscious tropical fruits, Thais have been eating raw fruits and drinking fruit juices as part of their daily diet for centuries. And added to this is the age-old custom of drinking fresh herbal drinks and herbal infusions for their health benefits.

      Thais have long drunk the fresh green juice of a herb called bua bok, or Asiatic pennywort (Centella asiatica). The sight of bua bok juice vendors ladling glasses of freshly pressed juice from carts piled high with fresh green herbs was once a common sight around Bangkok. The vitamin-rich juice relieves heartburn and many believe it aids the healing of internal injuries if drunk immediately upon the appearance of bruises. The plant has astringent properties and in traditional herbal medicine it is applied topically to heal wounds and burns. Thais still drink it to remedy bruising and as a general health tonic, though these days the roadside vendors have all but vanished in the city.

      Herbal infusions have had their place in the Thai diet for centuries. The number and variety of fruit, herb and vegetable drinks found in Thailand is comprehensive, with wide-ranging benefits for the health and complexion. Roselle, bael fruit, ginger, and lemongrass drinks are popular tonics and have a refreshing taste on hot days. Soy milk and chrysanthemum tea were brought into Thai culture by the Chinese immigrants, and now they have become part of the everyday Thai diet.