Practice
The practice of Thai Yoga Massage is said to be thousands of years old but it is still part of Thailand's medical system due to its healing properties at both emotional and physical levels.
History
The founder of Thai massage and medicine is Shivago Komarpaj who is said in the Pāli Buddhist canon to have been the Buddha's physician over 2,500 years ago. He is recorded in ancient documents as having extraordinary medical skills, knowledge of herbal medicine, and for having treated important people of his day, including the Buddha himself. Later on, massage practice appeared to have a combination of influences from Indian, Chinese and Southeast Asian cultural spheres, and traditions of medicine. The art as it is practiced today is likely to be the product of a 19th-century synthesis of various healing traditions from all over the kingdom. Even today, there is considerable variation from region to region across Thailand.
Training
Wat Pho, the center of Thai medicine and massage for centuries, opened the present Wat Pho Thai Traditional Medical and Massage School in 1955 on the temple grounds in Bangkok. This was the first such school approved by the Thai Ministry of Education. Wat Pho offers four basic courses of Thai medicine: Thai massage, Thai midwife-nurse, Thai pharmacy, and Thai medical practice.