BREAKING NEWS: Thailand Travel Advisory 

Updated Thursday, September 2nd, 2010. 

On May 3rd we wrote: "More violence has broken out almost exactly a year after the last riots. Nobody is too clear about the objectives of the protestors or even who they are, but they're very angry and very determined. They claim to be 'non-violent,' but within their numbers are also heavily-armed, well-trained agitators -- photographs have demonstrated this clearly. Indeed, on April 10th the protestors managed to drive off the Thai army who were trying to clear a busy intersection in the middle of the financial district of Bangkok. Most of the soldiers were armed only with anti-riot equipment, and very soon found themselves not only outnumbered but out-gunned. During the struggle, 21 people were killed and 800 injured. That's serious stuff, and what makes it even more serious is that nobody knows who fired the bullets, threw the grenades or launched the rockets, or even who was fighting whom. Some of the dead and the injured were shot in the back, and the inescapable conclusion has to be  that the shadowy attackers weren't really  trying to win the battle, just to stir up the maximum of fear and hatred!"

May 15th, 2010: The situation has come to a head, and the Army and the Red Shirts are now locked in hand-to-hand combat over who will control the streets of Bangkok, the "mob" or the "authorities." For those of you from parts of the world where the Rule of Law is taken for granted, the Rule of  Law is a remarkable human accomplishment, but a very delicate one that can never be taken for granted. In many places in the world there are groups of idealists who would scrap the old Rule of Law altogether and found a  New Sate based on 'fairer,' 'higher,' 'purer' principles. The Khmer Rouge was an extreme example of this -- Pol Pot and his comrades attempted to take Cambodia back to the Garden of Eden, so to speak, and to begin human development all over again. To achieve this, every educated person in Cambodia, every nurse, doctor, technician, lawyer, monk and teacher was murdered in a matter of months -- and 35 years later Cambodia continues to hobble toward an uncertain feature, crippled in both its heart and its limbs.

Thailand is nowhere near that, don't worry, but the same lessons are being explored. We feel in no danger ourselves -- just weep for this beautiful country.

 

Read the News carefully, for many western media see what's happening in Thailand as a straightforward "democratic movement," whereas it's mostly about rage, murky idealism, and just plain old-style greed -- for control and for power. The present movement, whatever anybody wants to call it, is also being exploited by out-laws and cynics who would like to run the whole country as a Corporation.

Revolutions almost always contain this element, lamentably, and more often than not this element triumphs!

May 21st, 2010. The boil has burst at last, and we all feel safer and more hopeful. Steer clear of Bangkok for the moment if you can, at least the commercial center, but Chiang Mai has returned to "normal," as they say. (I have never seen anything "normal" here in 15 years, but that's why I love it!)

June 10th, 2010. Our TRAVEL ADVISORY says ALL CLEAR for THAILAND! for now-- you're as safe here as anywhere, yet will have a great deal more to write home about!

July 27th, 2010.  Beautiful Monsoon skies, huge towering clouds with bright sun in between and perfect blue sky. Frog chorus and ghekkos. Fruit ripening. Mangos!

August 16th, 2010. Monsoon flooding in many parts of Thailand, but not specifically around us. Very wet, but in a wonderful way, like a beautiful Black Labrador just out of the water. Flooding is a natural part of the annual rhythm in rice growing regions like Chiang Mai, and is only destructive when the water hits the urban areas which are no longer built on stilts. We're in the country, and the rice paddies on which Baan Hom has been built have been raised almost a meter above the flood level.

I think we'll always be alright, and even if we aren't we'll just go upstairs!

September 2nd, 2010.  Still no flooding in Chiang Mai itself. The army hasn't even begun sandbagging the vulnerable parts of the town, so the authorities are obviously confident the work to widen and deepen the Ping River over the past year has done the trick.

Yesterday I saw one of the most beautiful Monsoon skies I've ever seen, with huge vertical curtains of light opening on Doi Suthep, the holy mountain that overlooks the city. The golden chedi of the famous Wat Phratat Doi Suthep became a  jewel in the forehead of the Guardian of Chiang Mai.

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.)  Sept. 8th to Sept. 17th 2010     Thai Ministry of Public Health Exam Preparation            (Thai therapists only)

2.)  Sept. 18th to Sept 25th 2010    Thai Massage Training Group.                                       (closed)

3.)  Sept. 27th to Oct 4th 2010        Thai Ministry of Public Health Exam Preparation            (Thai therapists only)

4.)  Oct. 7th to Oct. 16th 2010         Thai Massage Training Course.     5 or 10 days             (limited places)

5.)  Oct. 19th to Oct 25th 2010        Reflexivity Conference                                                  (closed)

6.)  Oct. 24th to Nov 3rd 2010        Thai Massage Training Course.     5 or10 days               (limited places)

7.)   Nov. 4th to Nov 13th 2010       Thai Massage Training Course.     5 or10 days              (limited places)

8.)   Nov. 13th to Nov 24th 2010     Thai Massage Training Course                                      (limited places)

9.)  Nov. 25th to Nov 26th 2010      Herbal Conference                                                        (closed)

10) Nov. 28th to Dec 10th 2010      Thai Massage Training Group                                        (closed)

We only post these dates to help you--we are very flexible and can start a course at any time. If you have a more convenient date in mind, please do propose it to us and we will do our best to build a course around it.

NEW 'REGULAR COURSE' RATES:

All Live-In Students are now guaranteed our lowest rate of Bt 2000 per day even if only one student signs 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 2 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 take place from November 28th to December 19th, 2010. For a glimpse of what it will be like you can check out the photographs of this 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.