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 Thai Massage;

Thai Therapeutic Massage;

Womblifting & Post-Partum Care;

Food as Medicine;

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 over twenty-five years. It may be him who answers the phone.

LIVE-IN COURSES

Our  Course Fee for all our courses is Bt 2,200 per study-day and includes 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 Bicycles and Wifi.

We charge Bt 1,100 for  Days-off (1 per study-week) and the same for Extra Days between classes.

To reserve a place there is a 25% Deposit. The PayPal Buttons are to the right of each course on our Calendar Page.

                                                                  Today's Exchange Rate (April 29th, 2023): $1.00 = 34.1 Baht.

NON-LIVE-IN COURSES

In normal times we do accept a few students who already have a place to live in Chiang Mai, but these are not ordinary times, and living here with us is added security for everybody.

To enquire about the  Non-Live-in option,  please contact us by e-mail -- we are flexible as long as you really are a bona-fide resident in Chiang Mai, or have a very good reason for not living here with us.

 

2023 CALENDAR
Click on the Titles for Course Descriptions:

September 4th to 16th, 2023
 80hr THAI MASSAGE COURSE
(12 study days & 1 day off)

September 21st to 30th, 2023
 60hr WOMBLIFTING & POSTPARTUM CARE
(9 study days & 1 day off)

October 6th to 15th, 2023
 60hr HERBAL WORKSHOP with FOOD AS MEDICINE
(9 study days & 1 day off)

October 21st to November 14th, 2023
150hr THAI MASSAGE COURSE
(22 study days & 3 days off)

December 7th to 16th, 2023
 60hr WOMBLIFTING & POSTPARTUM CARE
(9 study days & 1 day off)

December 22nd, 2023 to January 15th, 2024
150hr SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC COURSE
(22 study days & 3 days off)

2024 CALENDAR

March  8th to 20th, 2024
 80hr THAI MASSAGE COURSE
(12 study days & 1 day off)

March 25th to April 4th, 2024
 60hr WOMBLIFTING & POSTPARTUM CARE
(9 study days & 1 day off)

April 23rd to May 2nd, 2024
 60hr HERBAL WORKSHOP with FOOD AS MEDICINE
(9 study days & 1 day off)

May 8th to June 1st, 2024
150hr THAI MASSAGE COURSE
(22 study days & 3 days off)

You can visit  our Calendar Page for more information.

HOW TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT US.

You can go to our Training Page for more Information on what it is like to study and live at our school.

You might want to look at our Credentials page. We are a Ministry of Education School and award official MOE Certificates.

Our Calendar Page lists all our courses with their dates and a detailed description of each.

Click here for questions about Reservations & Fees.
 

Click on photo to see another Massage class.
(photo by Tobie Stevens)

HOW TO GET HERE from CHIANG MAI CITY:

You can go to our Where We Are page for maps and instructions. It takes 15-20 minutes from the Chiang Mai city centre in a tuk tuk, song taew or blue & yellow taxi -- they all cost about 200 baht. Our phone number is there too so when the driver gets lost he can phone us.

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.

THAILAND'S ENTRY REQUIREMENTS  
                                                                                     June 4th, 2023

Thailand's Current Entry Requirements:

1.) International travelers arriving in Thailand do NOT have to be vaccinated;

2.) International travelers do NOT have to show PCR test results on arrival;

3.) But take note, you may have to show a negative PCR Test when entering another country after you depart from Thailand, and this could include on arrival in your own country!

4.) Because a newly infected Foreign Tourist might not be allowed to return home, Thailand is asking all visitors to carry $10,000 in Medical Insurance. This would be to cover a Covid-related Hospital stay in Thailand should you not be able to return home.

Also  Good News about the ordinary Tourist Visa:

The ordinary TOURIST VISA is now for 45 days!!!  It's on arrival, and can easily be extended in Chiang Mai for an additional 30 days. That makes 2 1/2 months in all.

FLIGHT INFORMATION

If possible you should fly directly into the Chiang Mai International Airport instead of into Bangkok. You should look at the big international carriers like American, Delta, United, JAL, Qatar, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways. All those airlines connect in Asia to regional airlines like Eva, Ana, Korean, Thai Smile, Thai Air Asia, China Airways, China Southern, Singapore, Viet Jet, Hong Kong Airways, Bangkok Airways, Air Asia, Thai Airways, JAL, Cathay Pacific, Qatar, and Emirates which fly directly into Chiang Mai International Airport (the last five may have flights the whole way, and all are truly excellent!).

All students must arrive at Baanhom at least the day before any course as the Rasidaton (Thai Yoga) is at 7am on the first morning. If you can it's best to arrive in the afternoon: the Herbal Steam Baths will be hot at 5.30pm, and dinner will be at 7pm.

We will meet you at the airport if you give us all your flight details – Date, Time, Airline, and Flight Number. Our driver will have a sign with your name on it. If you don't see us immediately stay where you are by the Baggage Room exit and we will come and find you. (Do not budge from there or we won't!)

Takes about 15 minutes to get all the way home!

Phone us if you have a problem: 081.885.1429.