Thai Massage Guide: Cost, Tipping, Vocabulary & Useful Phrases
Thailand offers amazing, affordable massages everywhere. But what if your masseuse doesn't speak English? This guide gives you the essential Thai phrases to ensure you have the perfect experience.
In this guide, you will learn:
- How much to pay and tip based on 2025 prices.
- The difference between aches ปวด (ppuad), and pains, เจ็บ (jep).
- How to ask for the right pressure, from light, เบา (bao), to strong, หนัก (nak).
- Essential vocabulary for body parts and key techniques.
Types of Thai Massage
There are a number of different kinds of Thai massage, but perhaps the 2 most common are the traditional Thai massage and the oil massage.
Traditional Thai Massage can be referred to a number of ways in Thai.
- นวดไทย (nuad thai) - Thai massage
- นวดแผนไทย (nuad paen thai)
- นวดไทยโบราณ (nuad thai bo-rahn) massage+thai+traditional/ancient
- นวดน้ำมัน (nuad naam mahn) - oil massage (massage+oil)
Traditional Thai massage can be a bit rough on the body, and tends to be more painful than the oil, which is usually softer in its delivery, though if you have time maybe try both and see which you prefer.
Oil massage is more relaxing, but Thai massage is great when you need to get in deep and crush out some stiffness.
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Useful Phrases when getting a Thai Massage
Sample Dialogue
When you first enter a massage shop, the conversation might go something like this:
Important Thai Vocabulary/Phrases when Getting a Thai Massage
เจ็บ (jep) vs ปวด (ppuad) - เจ็บ (jep) is used to refer to the sharp pain you feel when you stub your toe, get pricked with something sharp or pinched. ปวด (ppuad) is used to refer to deep aches and soreness.
So you might be going to get a massage because some (or all) of your body is ปวด (ppuad). While getting that massage, if the masseuse presses too hard on a sore tendon, you might feel เจ็บ (jep).
Types of Pain:
Deep Aches & Soreness
- ปวด (ppuad) - to ache; to be sore
- ปวดหลัง (ppuad lang) - backache; sore back
- ปวดขา (ppuad khaa) - sore leg(s)
- ปวดเท้า (ppuad thao) - sore feet
Sharp Pain
- เจ็บ (jep) - to hurt; sharp pain
- เจ็บๆๆๆ (jep jep jep jep) - "Stop! It hurts!"
Other Useful Terms:
- เส้นตึง (sen ttung) - stiff/tight tendons
- เส้น (sen) - tendon; line
- ตึง (ttung) - to be stiff
Degree (of pressure during massage)
- หนัก - heavy; strong
- ขอนวดหนักๆ หน่อย (kaw nuad nak nak noi) - I want a strong/hard massage
- ขอหนักกว่านี้หน่อย (kaw nak kwaa nee noi) - I'd like it strong/harder than this please
- เบา - light; soft
- ขอนวดเบาๆ หน่อย (kaw nuad bao bao noi) - I want a soft/light (massage)
- ขอเบาๆ หน่อย (kaw bao bao noi) - Please (massage) a little softer
In addition to a hard or soft instruction, you can also specify if you'd like extra attention or pressure in a certain area. The Thai word "to emphasize" something is เน้น (nen). So, for example if you have overworked your right arm in a Muay Thai class you can ask for the masseuse to concentrate on this area you could say:
- ขอเน้นแขน (khaw nen khaen) please give extra attention to arm(s)
Want to learn more Thai? These massage phrases are just the beginning. Check out our comprehensive Thai language course to master conversations like this and much more.
How to Say Body Parts in Thai
Here's a list of body parts in Thai that are going to hurt eventually.
Remember that you can put ปวด (ppuad) in front of any of the body parts below to express that you have soreness or an ache in that area. These body part terms are also useful for general Thai conversation beyond just massage situations.
How to Say Your Body Aches:
Example: ปวดหลัง = "My back hurts"
- ปวดหัว (ppuad hua) - headache (ache+head)
- ปวดเท้า (ppuad thao) - feet/foot ache
- In spoken Thai, most of the time you don't need to use any pronouns so saying ปวดเท้า (ppuad thao) to a masseuse (or anybody) means "My feet hurt." or "My foot hurts."
Lower Body:
- foot - เท้า (thao)
- ankle - ข้อเท้า (khaw thao)
- calf - น่อง (nawg)
- thigh - ต้นขา (tton khaa)
- hip - สะโพก (sa-pohk)
Upper Body:
- waist - เอว (ehw)
- back - หลัง (lang)
- shoulder - ไหล่ (lai)
- elbow - ศอก (sawk)
- arm - แขน (khaen)
- chest - หน้าอก (naa ohk)
- neck - คอ (khaw)
- head - หัว (hua)
Happy Endings
At the end of a standard Thai massage, the masseuse will more often than not, ask you to sit up and lock your fingers behind your head. They might tell you to "relax" which isn't easy. They then will bring one of their legs in front of you and proceed to try to tear your torso off of your body. What they are really trying to do is crack your back. This technique is called ดัดตัว (duht ttua) or you may just hear ดัด (duht).
- ดัด (duht)- to bend
- ดัดตัว (duht ttua) - to bend body (during massage it's usually more of a twist than a bend)
- ดัดผม (dut phom) - to bend hair (get a perm; curl hair)
If you don't want them to ดัด (duht), you can say ไม่ดัด ครับ/ค่ะ (mai duht khrap/kha). If they ask why ทำไม (tham-mai), you might just say ไม่ชอบ (mai chawp) or "I don't like (it)."
How Much Does a Thai Massage Cost?
The price of a massage in Thailand varies from place to place. As of 2025, you can expect to pay between 250 and 350 baht per hour for a Thai massage in standard massage shop in the center of cities such as Chiang Mai or Bangkok. Oil massages tend to be more expensive and foot massages are sometimes a little cheaper depending on the shop. Areas that get a lot of tourists can have much higher prices so if you see tour buses and touts all around you, expect to pay more. It's also possible to go much cheaper. If you pass through smaller cities, especially ones with less foreign tourists, you can still find 100 baht massages out there as well. Some of the best massages I've ever within the past year or 2 and cost under 200 baht/hr.
In case you need a refresh on haggling or how to pronounce the numbers, check out my complete Thai numbers guide.
Tip: If you are going to be in town for a bit, don't be afraid to ask your masseuse where they go to get massages. Giving massages all day is demanding work and many masseuses will go get massages themselves and they are very likely to go to some place much cheaper than what the shop they work at charges.
My rule has always been that if they give you a glass of juice with a flower in it, you are probably paying too much.
How much to Tip for a Thai Massage?
While tipping is not mandatory in Thailand, it is a common and appreciated gesture, especially from foreign visitors. For a standard massage, a tip of 50-100 baht is a good guideline if you are happy with the service.
Everyone you ask is going to have a different opinion on how much you should be tipping at a massage. The authors of this post generally tip 50-100 baht per hour assuming we are happy with the service. I also asked on the Learn Thai from a White Guy Facebook Page and 80-100 seemed pretty similar to what everyone else was tipping though there were a few people who tip a set amount for the massage. However, if you get a massage at a place that costs 500-1000 baht per hour, they might be hoping for more than the standard tip.
In some massage shops, the masseuse will wait by the door on your way out which can add a bit of pressure to tip. Just remember it's up to you and some cultures don't generally tip ever so while you may feel social pressure or guilt about it based on where you are from, it is not universal.
Tip: If you ask for a 2 hour massage and the first hour feels like a waste of time, feel free to stop and leave. There's no obligation to pay for time you weren't actually getting a massage. It's also possible to request to switch to another masseuse if there are any available. Massage shops know that some people have a preference like very strong or very soft massages and some workers are better suited to one type or another.
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