Thailand has long been known as the massage capital of the world. Now, it has a Guinness World Record to prove it.
Some 641 massage therapists mass-massaged 641 people simultaneously for 12 minutes to win the honour on Thursday at an indoor arena in Bangkok. The event was organised by the Health Ministry to promote the Southeast Asian nation’s massage and spa industry.
The therapists more than doubled the previous record – attained in Australia in 2010 – of 263 people being massaged at the same time for five minutes.
“It was easy because this is what we do every day for a living,” said 53-year-old Chayanan Chanwuttisawan, one of the mostly female masseuses who took part in the event. “I’m proud of myself and my profession. I never thought we’d have a chance to be recognised like this.”
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra presided over the spectacle, and a senior representative from Guinness Records, Rob Molloy, was on hand to certify the feat.
Although some of Thailand’s massage parlours notoriously double as fronts for prostitution, many more are legitimate spas offering everything from aromatherapy to foot rubs to Thai “traditional massage” – an ancient art offered at shops across Bangkok that is still practiced and taught at the city’s revered Wat Pho temple.