“UNESCO: Traditional Thai massage is inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”

This is a remarkable step forward in the recognition of an ancestral and effective Buddhist practice, which unfortunately has been misrepresented in recent decades by its misuse in massage parlors offering “happy ending” services.

Here is what UNESCO says:

"Nuad Thai (also known as Nuad Bo’rarn), traditional Thai massage, is considered part of the art, science, and culture of traditional Thai healthcare.

As a non-medical remedy and manual therapy, it involves bodily manipulation through which the practitioner helps to rebalance the patient’s energies, structure, and body in order to treat ailments attributed to blockages in the energy pathways known as ‘sen’, said to crisscross the human body.

This manipulation aims to regulate the four body elements: earth, water, wind, and fire.

To open blocked pathways, Nuad Thai therapists perform a series of manipulations using their hands, elbows, knees, and feet, combined with herbal hot compresses to reduce inflammation.

Nuad Thai is currently divided into two main categories: therapeutic Nuad Thai and Nuad Thai for health promotion.

Nuad Thai has its origins in self-care practices once used in Thai peasant society. Every village had healers and massage practitioners whom villagers consulted for muscular problems caused by farm work.

Over time, this experience evolved into a formal body of knowledge, and today Nuad Thai has become a profession generating income.

In 1985, the Thai Massage Revitalization Project was launched to strengthen and enhance knowledge of Nuad Thai, alongside an initiative to form an alliance of Nuad Thai practitioners who gather annually."