Baan Hom Samunphrai School, Herbal Health, Thai Traditional Massage, Herbal Steam Baths, Traditional Thai Massage Training Courses, Live-in Accommodations, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Conferences, Therapeutic Massage, Rasidaton.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

A Thai Massage School & Herbal Health Centre.

We are a Thai Ministry of Education school offering courses in the following (you can click on what interests you).

Traditional Herbal Compresses & Health Care.

All our classes are taught by our director, Homprang Chaleekanha. They are in English, last from 10 to 25 days, and have a maximum of 12 students in a class.

We are unique in that we are a Live-in School -- almost all our students live here with us. But we also welcome guests and non-studying partners, and a few students even come with children. Everybody enjoys eating together around our big table, and of course sitting in a chair like this on the porch of one of our old wooden farmhouses.

We are also well-known for our Massage Treatments and Herbal Steam Baths, but it's essential to phone a few days ahead -- tel. 053.817.362. We have just reopened after being closed for 2 1/2 years and don't yet have our full staff of therapists, so you may have to be patient. But do try -- we're doing our best!.

And finally, this is the home of Homprang's family which includes her husband, the poet Christopher Woodman, who has been assisting her for almost 30 years. He is the one who writes all this, and may even answer the phone.

Introducing --'BAAN ROM YEN -- Cool & Purified!

Having only just survived the hottest Dry Season on record from March to the end of May, 2023, and realizing this is likely to be the norm for years to come, we have now completed a new Training Sala which can be air-conditioned when it's simply too hot to work in our much loved, beautiful but entirely open Baan Rusi (scroll down to 'How to Find Out More About Us' below).

Baan Rom Yen (in Thai 'rom yen' means 'cool' in every sense of the word!) also has a built-in air purifier so we can filter out the smoke and dust which comes with the seasonal heat. The space is 20% bigger than Baan Rusi as well, so there will be even more space between the mats as well, important as most of our classes are full these days. And we've also installed a special Ventilator System which brings in fresh filtered air from the outside whenever we need it, and that means whether the air-conditioning is on or not.

Homprang likes Baan Rom Yen so much she has decided to use it now for all her Massage classes regardless of the weather, and to reserve Baan Rusi for the Rasidaton each morning, and for Massage Treatments, Yoga, and of course special events and pujas. Those of you who were here in April & May 2023 will remember the high-pressure water spray system which we installed at the time -- which kept us cool in so far as anything could have ("a cool mist from heaven!!!"). And that blessing will always be there as well.

Our first Massage Class in the new building, March 2024. It's a comfortable 27°C (80° F) inside and 37°C (98.6° F) outside. The students are practicing for their 80hr Practical Exam tomorrow, so everybody is doing their own thing. Homprang is in dark blue mid left, and Anne is in red sarong trousers mid right. (That's Homprang's nephew, Up (Bang and Chien's son,) on the left with his girlfriend, another Giab -- they are both fully trained therapists now and often participate in classes.

Thursday, July 25th, 2024
A NOTE TO YOU ALL ABOUT THE HEAT & AIR POLLUTION IN CHIANG MAI

It is certainly hotter than it used to be, no doubt a bout that, but the good news is that Baan Hom Samunphrai has a new Training Sala to keep us all safe and cool (see Baan Rom Yen above).

The Dry Season in Thailand begins in November and lasts for 6 months, the last 2 of which, March and April, are the hottest time of the year. And those 2 months have certainly been even hotter in the last 2 years - which is what you are all asking about.

We have two advantages over what you read in the weather reports. The first is that we are well outside the city limits in what is still an agricultural area that uses lots of water for irrigation. The humidity not only brings down the temperature but also purifies the air. On top of that we have high pressure water sprays, and our eating and social areas have a cloud of cooling mist around them all day. And because our garden is so damp the evening air cools off more quickly too. So we suffer less than Chiang Mai city – the weather reports you are reading almost certainly come from the airport which is right in the middle of the city, not from out here in the orchards and rice paddies.

Another very important factor in our favor is that there is no heavy industry in the North of Thailand. The people are largely farmers, and they are the ones who make the smoke as they traditionally burn the rice paddies after the harvest in February and March. In addition, the Hill Tribe people burn parts of the forest to prepare new areas for cultivation. Our smoke and dust in March and April is a problem, but fortunately it's not the so-called 'smog' that pollutes almost all the urban and industrial centers of the world, year round!

Burning anything in public is now illegal in all of Thailand. On the other hand, the farmers have always used burning to improve the fertility of the soil, and neither the rice farmers nor the Hill Tribe people are convinced that the authorities know the soil better than they do, a very much unresolved issue. On the other hand, more and more farmers are now increasing the fertility of their soul with artificial fertilizers, and that of course is truly out of the frying pan and into the fire!

The Rainy or Monsoon Season is from May to the end of October, and begins dramatically with short but fierce thunder storms. Almost over night the whole South-East Asian weather system changes from a hot 'Northerly' flow of air passing over the great deserts of Mongolia and China to a 'Southerly' flow full of water drawn up from the Indian ocean. The sky is very blue and the rain bursts short – just for 20 minutes or so after which the sun comes out again – big, white and very clean clouds with the sun shining strongly between them. Beautiful!

Needless to say, the best season of the year for Tourists in Thailand is from the end of October to the end of February -- beautiful sunny days, cool nights (you should bring a sweater even!), and hardly a drop of rain. On the other hand, the Monsoon Season is in some ways the best time of year for one of our Training Programs down as you will be on a mat on the Baan Rom Yen floor (see above!)! Indeed, you'll want to be there more than you'll want to be down by the sea!

Our own priorities are simple. We do not have any air-conditioning in our bedrooms, but the ventilation is very good with over head fans as well. Our rooms are in old unpainted teak houses with lots of windows with shutters, white cotton curtains and screens -- but no glass! They're beautiful and healthy and most people love them – and we sleep very well.

We hope you will come and see sometime soon.

NEW 2024 COURSE FEES
**ROOM & BOARD IS INCLUDED IN OUR FEES**

As announced, we have raised our Course Fees by 10%.

The new Course Fee is now Bt 2,400 per Study Day, and Bt 1,200 for Days-off & Extra Days.

The Course Fee covers all of the following:

1.) 1 hour of Rasidaton (Thai Yoga) at 7am;

2.) 6 hrs of Teaching & Supervised Practice -- 9am to 4pm;

3.) a Private Room with 3 meals a day (Full Pension);

4.) Herbal Steam Baths everyday at 5.30pm.

5.) The use of all our Facilities including our Pool, Bicycles and Wifi.

To reserve a place in a class there is a 25% Deposit -- the PayPal Buttons are to the right of each course on our Calendar Page: https://www.homprang.com/courses_forming.htm

We now charge Bt 1,200 per day for Partners and Guests for Full Room & Board.

There is also a 10% increase in our charges for Treatments & Steam Baths.

[Today's Exchange Rate (June 14th, 2024): $1.00 = Bt 36.6; €1.00 = Bt39.2]

2024-25 CALENDAR

Click on Titles for More Information

September 19th to October 1st, 2024
80hr THAI MASSAGE COURSE - OPEN
(12 study days & 1 day off)

October 7th to 15th, 2024
60hr WOMBLIFTING & POSTPARTUM CARE - OPEN
(9 study days & 1 day off)

October 21st to 30th, 2024
60hr HERBAL WORKSHOP with FOOD AS MEDICINE - LIMITED PLACES
(9 study days & 1 day off)

November 23rd to December 17th, 2024
150hr THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE COURSE LIMITED PLACES
(22 study days & 3 days off

January 3rd to 27th, 2025
150hr ADVANCED THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE COURSE LIMITED PLACES
(open only to students who have taken the 150hr Therapeutic Course at least once.)
(22 study days & 3 days off)

January 30th to February 5th, 2025
60hr FOOT REFLEXOLOGY OPEN
(6 study days) Priority to 150hr Advanced Therapeutic Students.

PAYPAL BUTTONS for 2025 will be posted very soon!

Feb 19th to March 5th, 2025
150hr THAI MASSAGE COURSE
(22 study days & 3 days off)

March 19th to 28th, 2025
60hr WOMBLIFTING & POSTPARTUM CARE
(9 study days & 1 day off)

April 23rd to May 2nd, 2025
60hr HERBAL WORKSHOP with FOOD AS MEDICINE
(9 study days & 1 day off)

May 8th to the 20th, 2025
80hr THAI MASSAGE COURSE
(12 study days & 1 day off)

You can visit our CALENDAR or TRAINING PAGE for more information.

HOMPRANG CHALEEKANHA

(Click on the Photo to see other things she does!)

Baan Hom Samunphrai is the home of Maw Samunphrai ("Herbal Medicine Doctor") Homprang Chaleekanha, 64, a specialist in Traditional Thai Massage (Nuad Boran) and Thai Yoga (Rasidaton) who also practices Thai Therapeutic Massage, Midwifery and Herbal Medicine. In the photo above she is making a compress with fresh herbs, one of the favourite activities of her students from all over the world. (If you click on the Photo you can see some of the other beautiful and mysterious things she does with her students.)

'Maw Hom' grew up in a small village on the Burmese border with no road or electricity, the only 'doctor' being her rice-farming grandmother who doubled as the local midwife and herbalist -- there's more about her grandmother here.

Homprang is now not only licensed by the Thai Ministry of Public Health as a Traditional Doctor but as a Herbal Pharmacologist, a Traditional Midwife, and a Massage Teacher, and her school is approved by the Thai Ministry of Education. She has also travelled widely in Europe and North America, and is fluent in English as well as Thai, a very rare facility among genuine traditional healers. And finally, Homprang has for years been very active in the local Thai community, and has volunteered her time and expertise to Thai patients as well as to the growing number of Thai students who are rediscovering their roots.

Maw Hom comparing notes with a Canadian Botanist; enjoying her friends by the pool; working with two professional colleagues, one Thai, one English; leading the Rasidaton (Thai Yoga) at 7am.

Introducing her western students to Acharn Suwan, a Buddhist philosopher & herbalist, at his simple garden retreat in Chiang Dao; demonstrating 'Womb-lifting' at an International Health Exhibition; with her colleagues at The Association of Thai Traditional Healers -- as a group they are heavily involved with teaching young Thai students old medicine!

All the above roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruit have medicinal value, and Maw Hom will show you them if not in her own herb garden then in her community or earth market. In the final photo, Maw Hom is showing Thai children from an International School how medicines were made when she was a child. The students all left with a little bottle of Tiger Balm made by themselves. This, she feels, is some of her most influential work.