Yesterday I finally got around to visiting the Thai massage establishment which is in the same building as the English academy that I work in. I’d had a traditional Thai massage once previously and it wasn’t till I stepped inside this place in Jinju that I remembered.
Thai message is a manipulative body based massage which involves a lot of pressure being placed on parts of the body and it also involves you getting into some different postures too.
The place I went to is in 
Chojeon – dong which is the new area of the city. Busses that head that way include 530, 531 and 251. The place itself is directly opposite the Prugio complex sandwiched between an NH bank and a GS Supermarket. It’s easy to find if you use Prugio as a marker to work out your bearings.
Once inside the building make your way to the 2nd floor and go through the door inside. There is a Korean guy who works there who speaks passable English. But if he’s not there then you will either have to rely on your Korean or use the tried and tested point and smile method.
Thanks to the Korean guy on reception I discovered that they offer both the traditional Thai massage without the aromatherapy oils and a massage with the oils. I chose the latter and went for the 1 hour service rather than the two. At this point it’s pertinent to point out that it’s not cheap, coming in at 100K Won for one hour is steep for most teachers here in Korea. You do get what you pay for however and you leave feeling relaxed and invigorated.
On handing over my not so hard earned money I was invited to change into shorts and a t-shirt, jimjilbang style in a little room with a mattress on the floor. If you’re expecting a massage table like I was then you’ll be disappointed. This was when my mind flashed back to an hour of pain and contortionism back in England five years ago. After slipping into the tiny outfit I was led into another room and asked to sit down and put my feet into a wooden bucket filled with warm water. Five minutes later a little Thai lady appeared who then washed and dried my feet. My Thai masseuse seemed delighted that I knew a few words in her language and this got the ball rolling splendidly in our working relationship.
The massage itself was much better than my last experience and although she did apply lots of pressure at times there was no pain as such and it felt therapeutic rather than sheer torture. She seemed to find the knots in both my calf (a muscle tear that flares up very often) and my shoulders. After the Thai part came the oil part and that was where the real relaxation came into play.
I paid for one hour but I was there for at least 90 mins and the service you get from your masseuse is really 5 stars. At one hundred thousand won it is on the pricey side as I said, so maybe it’s a rare treat rather than something more regular. There was a price list of other treatments, scalp and foot massage one presumes that were priced from 40k upwards so you could consider one of those. In conclusion, Id certainly recommend checking it out and treating oneself.
Yo Jinju! 