Abstract

This paper discusses the historical process of tourism acculturation of Thai Massage in tourism particularly delineating how socio-cultural contexts have been formed that enabled tourism acculturation. In recent years, health tourism has been developing in Asian countries, where tourists often enjoy practicing a variety of traditional techniques of the body as “healing arts,” such as Tai Chi, Zen meditation, and Yoga. Thai Massage has also become one of these kinds of traditional techniques of the body, attracting many tourists as a “spiritual” practice based on Buddhist philosophy. However, has Thai Massage originally been practiced as it is done in health tourism now in Thailand? In other words, has Thai Massage been acculturated as a result of the tourism development in Thailand? This paper addresses this question by examining the transition of Thai tourism policy, the cultural structure of the spa, and the acculturation process of Thai Massage. Verf.-Referat