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Happy endings
Those who imagine Thai massage as an exotic indulgence with scantily-clad young women and happy endings need think again. It’s a tough business being kneaded like bakers’ dough by women who use their knees, elbows and legs as fulcrums to dislodge creaking body joints and inflict deep bruising to atrophied muscles. But then again it’s not all bad lying totally relaxed for an hour in a thatched roof shelter overlooking the sea and being rubbed from head to toe in camphorated oil.
As we gaze out, men fish from rocks at each end of the bay while others cast nets in the shallows, interrupted occasionally by a long boat, either fishing or ferrying passengers. In the distance fishing boats go about their work. The only sounds are those of the waves lapping onto the shore and the constant thrum of cicadas and frogs.
We have seen little lizards and bigger geckos here and there are big brown toads which colonise the sun loungers at night, we are sure to startle the morning sunbathers. Cheeky Mynah birds steal food from plates and hop from lounger to lounger, not at all perturbed by human activity, and, across the road, the street vendors and hang little cages from poles, in them canaries.
The Merlin Beach hotel itself is nestled between bush or jungle covered hills at either end, the entrance faces a quiet road, and on the other side is the beach. At each end of the beach the massage places are set into the rocks, elevated above the sea. Each appears staffed by about ten uniformed masseuses who chatter away to each other quietly as they work. Like good traders, each offers laundry services (70 Baht a kilogram), hires our snorkels and masks, and sells beer, water and soft drink. The happy ending is a complementary slice of watermelon and bottle of water at the end of each massage.