Massage

Massage involves working and acting on the body with pressure – structured, unstructured, stationary, or moving – tension, motion, or vibration, done manually or with mechanical aids. Massage can be applied with the hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearm, feet, or a massage device. Massage can promote relaxation and well-being, can be a recreational activity, and can be sexual in nature (see Erotic massage).

In professional settings massage clients are treated while lying on a massage table, sitting in a massage chair, or lying on a mat on the floor, while in amateur settings a general purpose surface like a bed or floor is more common. Aquatic massage and bodywork is performed with recipients submersed or floating in a warm-water therapy pool. The massage subject may be fully or partially clothed or unclothed.

Etymology

The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel" or from Latin massa meaning "mass, dough", cf. Greek verb μάσσω (massō) "to handle, touch, to work with the hands, to knead dough". In distinction the ancient Greek word for massage was anatripsis, and the Latin was frictio.

Bangkok

Bangkok (English pronunciation: /ˈbæŋkɒk/) is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร, pronounced  [krūŋ tʰêːp mahǎː nákʰɔ̄ːn]) or simply  Krung Thep . The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance.

Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew in size and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of Siam's (as Thailand used to be known) modernization, during the later 19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was the centre of Thailand's political struggles, throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule and underwent numerous coups and several uprisings. The city grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact among Thailand's politics, economy, education, media and modern society.

Thai massage

What is today called "Thai massage" or "Thai yoga massage" is an ancient healing system combining acupressure, Indian Ayurvedic principles, and assisted yoga postures. The founding father of Thai massage was an Ayurvedic doctor named Jivaka Kumar Bhacca, who is revered still in Thailand as the "father of medicine". Born in India during the time of the Buddha, he is noted in ancient documents for his extraordinary medical skills, his knowledge of herbal medicine, and for having treated important people of his day, including the Buddha himself.

In the Thai language it is usually called nuat phaen thai (Thai: นวดแผนไทย; lit. "Thai-style massage") or nuat phaen boran (Thai: นวดแผนโบราณ, IPA: [nûət pʰɛ̌ːn boːraːn]; lit. "ancient-style massage"), though its formal name is merely nuat thai (Thai: นวดไทย, lit. Thai massage) according to the Traditional Thai Medical Professions Act, BE 2556 (2013). The art form is also commonly known as "yoga massage" or "Thai yoga massage", as the practice is essentially a form of assisted yoga performed by the giver, with the receiver completely passive throughout.

Pattaya

Pattaya (Thai: พัทยา,  pronunciation , rtgs: Phatthaya, Thai pronunciation: [pʰát.tʰā.jāː]) is a city in Thailand, a beach resort popular with tourists and expatriates. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south-east of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Amphoe Bang Lamung in the province of Chonburi.

Pattaya City (Thai: เมืองพัทยา; rtgs: Mueang Phatthaya) is a self-governing municipal area which covers the whole tambon Nong Prue and Na Klua and parts of Huai Yai and Nong Pla Lai. The city is in the heavily industrial Eastern Seaboard zone, along with Si Racha, Laem Chabang, and Chonburi. Pattaya's census population figures of 107,000 only account for residents who have formally registered in the city. Pattaya is the center of the Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area - the conurbation in Chonburi Province - with a total population exceeding 1,000,000.

History

The name Pattaya evolved from the march of Phraya Tak (later King Taksin) and his army from Ayutthaya to Chanthaburi, which took place before the fall of the former capital to Burmese invaders in 1767.

Thailand

Coordinates: 15°24′N 101°18′E / 15.4°N 101.3°E / 15.4; 101.3

Thailand (/ˈtaɪlænd/ TY-land or /ˈtaɪlənd/ TY-lənd;Thai: ประเทศไทย, rtgs: Prathet Thai), officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย, rtgs: Ratcha-anachak Thai; IPA: [râːt.tɕʰá.ʔāː.nāː.tɕàk tʰāj]), formerly known as Siam (Thai: สยาม; rtgs: Sayam), is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest.

Thailand is governed by the National Council for Peace and Order that took power in the May 2014 coup d'état.Its monarchy is headed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has reigned since 1946 as Rama IX, as he is the ninth monarch of the Chakri Dynasty. He is currently the world's longest-serving head of state and the country's longest-reigning monarch; he has reigned for 7009219907440000000♠69 years, 250 days.