The History of Thai Massage
Thai massage, known in Thailand as nuad thai or nuad boran ('ancient massage'), has been practised for centuries. Tradition credits its origins to Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha, a physician said to have lived at the time of the Buddha, though the practice evolved over generations and absorbed influences from Indian Ayurveda and Chinese medicine.
Knowledge was traditionally passed down orally and in temples. Wat Pho temple in Bangkok, home to inscribed stone tablets illustrating massage points, remains a famous centre of Thai massage teaching. In 2019 UNESCO added nuad thai to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.