Mo Sak, Haad Rin, Koh Phangan
My first visit to Thailand was in 1995, to the small village of Haad Rin on the island of Koh Phangan. I remember eagerly anticipating trying Thai massage for the first time. An Israeli friend advised me not to go to massage ladies on the beach, suggesting that if I sought a true massage, I should look for an old medicine man walking with a stick. "Where can I find him?" I asked. "Actually nowhere," he replied. "He walks around the Sunset beach from time to time, and if you are lucky enough, you will stumble upon him, and you can ask for a treatment. He is doing something different than the ladies on the beach; I think it’s Shiatsu."
A few days later, I was fortunate enough to come across the man and receive a treatment. I remember he didn’t stretch my body much; instead, he checked my pulses, plucked my nerves, blew, did a lot of kneading and acupressure - overall, what he was doing was very different from the beach massage. Unfortunately, he didn’t know a word of English, and I didn’t know a word of Thai, so all we had was a smile. The treatment remained a strong memory, and it took me the next 17 years of learning, studying, and researching Thai massage to solve the puzzle and finally realize that he wasn’t practicing Shiatsu but genuine Thai massage, which is quite different from the commercial one and not easy to find. He was in his 70s back then, so I doubt he’s still with us today, but the memory of him is close to my heart, and I am very grateful for this blessing directly from the sky. 
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