Thai Temples and Thai Traditional Massage | The Buddhist Wat

The Buddhist Wat (“Wat” is the Thai word for “temple” derived from the Indian Sanskrit “Vata,” meaning “enclosure”) has played and still plays an important role in Thai society. Not only is there a historical connection with Thai Massage, there is also a significant relationship between the Buddhist temple and the village or neighborhood where it’s located.

For instance, the Thai people support the temple and monks materially and financially through donations. The monks on their part provide the people with advice, assistance, and spiritual teachings (such as Dhamma knowledge and meditation techniques), and they perform certain required rituals and ceremonies that are deemed important by the community.

In the past, it was also the place where people came for healing, not only spiritually, but also physically — they received herbal medicines and Thai Traditional Massage from the monks. Today, there are still many temples in Thailand that offer Thai Massage treatments and also training, perhaps the Wat Pho temple in Bangkok being the foremost example.

Additionally, the temples organize many events and charities and they provide the poor with free food and clothing. In fact, temples and monks participate very actively with community development and education in many fields, including English language teaching, computer training, agricultural know-how, and even sexual education, to name a few examples.

It’s safe to say that the Buddhist temples and monks in Thailand have kept Buddhism, religion, and spiritual values such as Metta and Karuna very much alive and integrated in Thai society, in a world that’s rapidly modernizing, globalizing, and secularizing. What’s more, the temples are the living examples of the Dhammanamai principles being implemented as care for others.

The temples — currently more than 39,000 across the country — are still a center of stability in Thai society and an inseparable part of day-to-day life in Thailand.

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