Bangkok Fish Massage

Well, I promised I’d provide more details about my fish massage experience.  Some of you may in fact be wondering just what a “fish massage” entails.  Well, to make a long story short, you put your feet in a tank full of water and hundreds of tiny fish, and the fish eat the dead skin cells off of your feet.  It tickles.  A lot.  It’s also supposed to be an effective treatment for a variety of skin conditions.  I don’t know whether that’s actually true, but I can see how it might help.

These fish massage places seem to be all over the place here in Thailand, especially in the tourist areas.  I tried a half-hour fish massage at the Night Market near Lumphini Park in Bangkok.  At first I was a bit hesitant, but Khae dared me–and I take dares pretty seriously.  After all, I always say I’ll try anything once–why should fish massage be an exception?

All I can really say about my massage was that it was… interesting.  Like I said, it tickles.  Not unpleasant, but not particularly pleasurable, either.  It may end up being a once in a lifetime experience for me, if you know what I mean.  Unless I get some kind of skin condition affecting my feet, in which case I may have to get a fish massage every day.  I guess I could deal with that.  Worse things have happened, and it’s not really that expensive.  But for my money, I’d rather have a full-body traditional Thai massage any day.  The four French tourists in the shop, on the other hand, had tried their first fish massage the day before and were already back for seconds.  Different strokes, I guess.