I had been meaning to check out Sukho Thai, the Thai spa chain, for a while. Trying out their new treatment – which they claimed was specially created to ease CEO-level stress – was the perfect opportunity. The interiors were dimly lit and quiet, with little open cubbies and large lounge chairs. It’s not exactly private; throughout my treatment, I could hear the muffled sounds of other therapists murmuring and customers walking past. It’s not a big minus, but it’s definitely distracting.
Once I had changed into the loose cotton top and pajamas they’d provided (you don’t need to strip down for this massage), my therapist started with a very relaxing, firm foot-and-leg massage, using an oil that had the aroma of eucalyptus. I love deep massages, and this one was just right. After working the legs for a while, she moved on to the head and shoulders for a dry massage, rubbing out all knots. Fair warning to Thai massage newbies: it is intense. Your limbs will be pulled, stretched and kneaded till you feel like you’ve been through a workout session, not a spa. The good part is you feel incredibly light and loose – it even lasts for a few days. The next day, however, prepare to feel just a little bit sore, exactly how you do after you break out the weights following eight months of treating them as door stoppers.
After the massage, I was given a small bowl of fruit to nibble on, with some sweet ginger tea. It was a good, relaxing massage, and it managed to make me forget about all the emails I had to send and the deadlines that were looming, but if I were the head of a company, I’d probably go for something more luxurious. In Bali, preferably. This is a good after-work treatment – the outlets are accessible and clean, the therapists are skilled, the treatments, affordable. But for a mid-level manager, not a CEO.
Rs 2,650 for 90 minutes. Sukhothai.in
Photograph: ELLE archive
