Prison Mike

I recently found myself at the Chiang Mai Women's Correctional Institute. Don't get too excited; it's not for the reasons you might imagine. I went for a massage! Strange but true!

A bit of background info - massage parlors are ubiquitous in Thailand. I'm talking about legitimate massages, not that "happy ending" nonsense. Thais believe that massages are part of routine health maintenance, like a dental check-up*. It's not like the US, where we think of a massage as a fancy way to relax. Having said that, however, many of the Thai parlors are sprucing themselves up to produce a more spa-like atmosphere to appeal to Western tourists.

The point of the prison spa is to rehabilitate the inmates and teach them a skill that can be put to use in the real world. The women are within 6 months of their release date and get to keep the earnings. They are all young and pretty. This leads me to believe that they were prostitutes, but prostitution is so blatant here that you'd have to beg a cop to arrest you. (Walk around the streets after 7pm and you'll understand what I'm saying.) Drugs maybe? They have very strict laws about that stuff here. The guide books basically say: "Think it's no big deal to smoke a joint at a beach party? You might spend the rest of your life in jail."

But I digress... back to the massage. Thai massage has been described as having someone perform yoga on you. That's pretty accurate. It's a full contact sport and it hurts! At one point, the woman wound up and punched me in the thigh. It ended with a slap on the back. Of course it feels good too. Kind of like you just completed a work-out, but without any of the sweating and exertion. For $6/hr, it is the perfect way to end a long day on your feet.

* Also strange but true - I've read that Thailand is known for its high-quality affordable dentistry, including cosmetic procedures. Who woulda guessed? I'm tempted to get a new set of chompers.