BREAKING NEWS: Thailand Travel Advisory 

Updated Thursday, Feb 2nd, 2012

Read the News carefully. For the most part, western media see what's happening in Thailand as a straightforward "democratic movement," but it's also a struggle between family elites for control of the country's economy -- indeed, there are those who would like to run Thailand as a gigantic, stream-lined Corporation. That sort of system may benefit the people of  Singapore, a small, compact city-state, but is very unlikely to solve the problems of the 55 million poor farmers in Thailand, what is more make them happy. High-end spas and multi-star hotels will certainly benefit, but  traditional medicine will become a luxury only the privileged can enjoy.

What an irony!

April 2nd, 2011 No earthquake damage in Chiang Mai -- tragic flooding in the south!

May 29th, 2011. The world didn't end, we've had a break for the staff to prepare for the Thai Ministry of Public Health Traditional Medicine exams.  Classes will begin again in June, and we'll be open again after June 7th.

October 10th, 2011 All the big water is now leaving Chiang Mai and is headed toward Bangkok instead. Like those of so many urban centers in the world, Bankgok's flood plains have all been filled in for factories, car parks and airports, and the seasonal water has nowhere to to go but into the surrounding countryside, flooding the small  farms and villages.

October 31st, 2011 Bangkok's new airport built on the flood plain to the south of the city is well protected from flooding, and Chiang Mai is dry too, so none of our foreign visitors need be apprehensive about getting here. But we should all still grieve for the hundreds of thousands of rural Thai people who are wading through water up to their waists in some places, their crops destroyed, their merchandize wrecked, and their jobs perhaps permanently lost.

November 18th, 2011. The beautiful season has arrived -- cool nights, bright, hot, clear days. Don't miss it!

January 1st, 2012.   HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Our next classes begin on Thursday,  February 2nd and Thursday, January 12th, both 2012 of course.

Christopher Woodman

 

Courses Already Formed or Forming

Students can enroll for courses on the following dates.

(Classes are closed at a maximum of 8 students, so please do visit, e-mail, or phone us promptly.)

 

1.) January 3rd  to January 4th, 2012         Special Herbal Compress Workshop  2 days     (completed

2.) January 5th  to January 11th, 2012       Thai Massage Training Course  7 days              (completed)

2.) January 11th  to January 13th, 2012      Foot Massage Training Course  3 days             (completed)

3.) January 12th  to January 21st, 2012      Thai Massage Training Course  10 days            completed

4.) January 19th  to January 23rd, 2012      Thai Massage Training Course   5  days           completed

5.) January 23rd  to February 1st, 2012      Thai Massage Training Course 5 or 10 days      completed

6.) February 2nd  to February 11th, 2012    Special Herbal Therapies Course  10 days         (in progress)

7.) February 14th  to February 26th, 2012   Conference      12 days                                         (closed)

8.) February 26th  to March 11th, 2012       Thai Massage Training Course 5, 10 or15 days (open)

9.) March 15th  to March 24th, 2012           Thai Massage Training Course 5 or 10 days      (open)

 

'REGULAR COURSE' RATES:

All Live-In Students are guaranteed our lowest rate of Bt 2100 per day even if only one student turns up for a scheduled course--and that includes everything: a private room of your own with 3 delicious meals, 1 hour of Thai yoga plus 6 hrs of teaching, the illustrated Baan Hom Practitioner's Notebook, steam baths, bicycles, internet, and transportation to and from Chiang Mai. The only additional cost is for wine or beer if you wish. There is also an extra charge for our 3 Training DVDs of 300 baht each.
 

Discounts for Thai Healing Alliance Members apply to our Live-in Courses, and cover
not only the Baan Hom Samunphrai  training fees but our room & board charges as well. Click on the THAI Logo
on the left to learn more about the Thai Healing Alliance Scholarship and Study Discount programs.

The Second Annual Thaitherapeutics 'Thai Massage Tour' will study at Baan Hom Samunphrai from November 28th to December 10th, 2010. For a glimpse of what it will be like you can check out the photographs of  last year's session just below. You should contact D'vorah Swarzman at www.thaitherapeutics.com/ well in advance as bookings have already started--there are considerable savings for early enrollment as well (we look forward to meeting yet more of you here again next year!).

2009 'THAI MASSAGE TOUR'

The January 2009 Thai Therapeutics Massage Tour was organized by the well-known Therapist and Teacher from Ashland, Oregon, D'vorah Swarzman, and was attended by 8 professional students.  Lasting 3 weeks, the Tour  included an intensive 12 day course in 'Nuad Boran' with Homprang Chaleekanha, as well as a daily 7am workshop in 'Rasidaton' (Thai Yoga). 'Maw Hom' also arranged visits to other local Thai healers and herbalists in the Chiang Mai area right on up to the Burmese border. Other activities included meditation, temple visits, bicycling, whitewater rafting, Thai cooking, and a special 5 days at the end with D'vorah's own personal teacher, Master Pichet Boonthumee.

Here are a few photos taken at Baan Hom Samunphrai on the final day, January 23rd, 2009.

   It was chilly on the final morning!

  But everybody warmed up by the exam--

  ...and was duly admitted to Club Hom

...and that meant to Party, of course-- with Pimon 'Ot' Singhasin (click for a sample), who plays the wonderful music on our new Nuad Boran DVD. (The visiting guitarist is Skye Darkness McCloud of Breitenbush, Oregon--the one who just received his certificate from Maw Hom in the previous photo!)

This special Thai-Yoga Massage Reise (Tour Group) for German speakers at Baan Hom Samunphrai will take place this year from November 13th to 25th, 2010. Organized by our good friend, the Swiss therapist and painter, Elizabeth Zollinger, the session will include a full course in Thai Traditional Massage with Homprang Chaleekanha as well as health related activities and outings in the Chiang Mai area. A high-point will be a 2 day trip to Chiang Dao on the Burmese border including the holy mountain, the caves, the medicinal market, meditation center, waterfalls and hot-springs.

For those who wish to stay on Elizabeth Zollinger will also organize a sojourn on the beautiful island of Koh Tao in the Andaman Sea.

For further information click on the Logo on the left--and you don't have to be Swiss what is more German speaking to join. Elizabeth is fluent in English and lives in the Aran Islands in Ireland, and Homprang, after all, is Thai!

LINKS TO A FEW SITES THAT PHOTOGRAPH AND TALK ABOUT US: 

You can visit this site to read a recent article, "Le massage Nuad Boran avec Maitre Homprang," in the June 2009 issue of the French magazine, Les Nouvelles Esthetiques. By the well-known therapist and health journalist, Guy Dumont, the article has beautiful photographs too. Click here to go to the magazine: http://www.nouvelles-esthetiques.com/magazine/sommaire&annee=2009&mois=06  Click here to find a PDF file you can download: http://www.guydumont.com/gd_page.php?s=5.2#110  You can also buy it on the newstands in Europe.

You can visit this site for some recent photos by a French student--and a fascinating commentary on Thailand en français!www.ericeloethugo.blogspot.com  . And here's another page from the same site with a much fuller account of Baan Hom--also in French, of course. Click Here and scroll down to "samedi 1 novembre 2008." 

Visual commentary of a very striking sort from Gonga and Tara on www.universalfellowshipoflight.com--we feel fortunate to be photographed by visitors with such sensitivity for the Buddhist as well as folk traditions of Thailand!  

Expert assessment from Robert Byrnes of Phoenix, Arizona on his Synchronicity Massage Newsletter. He writes some of the most informative and on-moving Massage Therapy commentary that we've seen.

More earth-y commentary on  w.w.w.realtravel.com, this time by the well-known L.A. environmentalist, Andy Lipkis, founder of Tree People: Click Here as well  for a more specific review with more photos & lots of stars.

Photos and personal statements from members of The Chicago Thai Massage School Thailand Adventure that came to Chiang Mai in February 2011 and, among many other activities, studied with Homprang at Baan Hom Samunphrai.

If you missed our film, Baan Hom Samunphrai, you can click on it here. It was made by Sam Kalayanee in 2008 -- at the same time he was co-producing  'Burma VJ,' a documentary on the Saffron Revolution' that was nominated for an Oscar in 2010.