Last week 641 massage therapists set a record for simultaneously massaging 641 people for a total of 12 minutes at Bangkok’s indoor exhibition hall. Although traditional Thai massages last about two hours, the feat was certified as a Guinness World Record by Guinness Records representative Rob Mollow.
The Ministry of Public Health organized the event to put Thailand on the map for its massage and spa industry. No less than Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra presided over the activity, which broke the earlier record set by Australia in 2010. There, 263 individual were massaged simultaneously for 5 minutes.
Tourists who frequent Thailand know where to go for spa treatments, aromatherapy, foot rubs and the tradition Wat Pho Thai massage. The latter is a centuries-old dry massage technique characterized by stretching and reflexology. The method is still being taught today at the sacred Wat Pho temple.
According to Thailand’s National News Bureau, the government is pushing to make the country the ultimate destination for massage. Plans to improve the quality and skill of some 50,000 massage therapists are also in place as well as offering massage classes to the public. The government is even planning to establish a massage center in every hospital.
Thailand’s massage industry generates some TBH13 billion (USD 415 million) every year, the AP reported.
