Thailand Medical Tourism and Travel Blog Finalist

I can’t believe it’s the last day! Woohoo! Here’s one last video for the contest. I hope TAT brings me back to Thailand! Thank you to everyone for all your support!

Three more day before the Thailand Medical Tourism blog Contest ends! Here’s another video I made about our trip. I miss Thailand! TAT please bring me back to Thailand!

During our first night in Chiang Mai, we visited the Old Chiangmai Cultural Center for a khantoke dinner and cultural show featuring the dances of Northern Thailand.

Khantoke refers to the tray that is used to serve the food. While dining, you are seated on the floor. The menu includes Pork Curry, Pork Tomato Chili Paste, Fried Chicken, Fried Pork Skin, Fried Vegetables, Crispy Rice Noodles, Fried Banana and Sticky Rice.

After the dinner, we watched two cultural shows, one featuring the Lanna dances and another featuring the hill tribe dances.

Old Chiangmai Cultural Center
185/3 Wualai Rd, T. Haiya, Muang District
Chiang Mai, Thailand 50100
Tel. No. +66 (53) 202993 to 5
Fax No. +66 (53) 274094
E-mail info@oldchiangmai.com

For our last night in Chiang Mai, Thailand, we stayed at the RarinJinda Wellness Spa Resort. The only thing I didn’t like about the tour was that we had so many things to do, we really didn’t have time to really enjoy the accommodation which were really good.

The main lobby of the RarinJinda Resort in Chiang Mai is an old house that was restored and adaptively-reused as part of the resort. The new structures that surround it were designed to blend perfectly with this historical structure. The resort is definitely a showcase of the local architecture in Chiang Mai.

Our rooms were on the first floor which I particularly liked since we had an entrance that led straight to the swimming pool. No need to walk to reach it. Too bad we didn’t have time to go for a swim and experience this convenience.

After dropping off our stuff, we went straight to the spa for our Elements of Life treatment followed by dinner at the resort’s Deck 1 restaurant which was by the river.

After dinner, we proceeded to the Chiang Mai Night Market. RarinJinda is in fact conveniently located near the market, I remember it took us just five minutes to get there.

The next morning, we had breakfast at Deck 1 before proceeding to the airport for our flight back to Bangkok. I wish I could go back to Chiang Mai again this year!

RarinJinda Wellness Spa Resort
1, 14 Chareonraj Rd., T. Wat Kate
A. Muang, Chiang Mai.
Tel. 053-247000, 053-303030
majo@rarinjinda.com

Have you ever heard of the Tibetan Bowl Sound Massage? That is the central feature of Elements of Life, the signature treatment at RarinJinda Wellness Spa Resort. It’s the first time I ever got to experience something like that.

The bed they use is quite special. I was lying down on a layer of small heated pebbles during the treatment.

After the massage, four metal Tibetan sound bowls were placed on and around my body. The therapist then tapped on the bowls following a specific rhythm. As the bowls vibrated, they sent soothing waves throughout my body. The beautiful sound produced by the Tibetan bowls are said to have a relaxing hypnotic effect on the brain, slowing brain waves and inducing deep meditative state.

According to RarinJinda, the Tibetan bowls treatment has seven benefits which include (1) stress reduction through deep relaxation and endorphin release, (2) liberates emotional traumas locked within the subconscious, (3) profound effect on acupuncture meridians, (4) activates self-healing mechanisms within the body, (5) promotes deeper sleep, (6) relief from headache, fatigue, insomnia, digestive disorders, joint or muscle aches, menstrual disorders, emotional imbalances, and (7) aura harmonizing and chakra balancing.

I suggest you check out RarinJinda Wellness Spa Resort right away. They have branches in Chiang Mai, Bangkok and Phuket.

RarinJinda Wellness Spa Resort
1, 14 Chareonraj Rd., T. Wat Kate
A. Muang, Chiang Mai.
Tel. 053-247000, 053-303030
majo@rarinjinda.com

During our first two days in Thailand, I stayed at Windsor Suites Hotel Bangkok. One thing I enjoyed about my stay at Windsor Suites Hotel was the buffet lunch since it included a lot of local Thai food.

I particularly liked this snack made of green leaf which you shape into a cone, which is served with condiments. Does anyone know what it’s called?

The buffet also had various Thai seafood, duck, chicken and pork dishes.

In one corner, one of the cooks prepared my favorite papaya salad!

And there was a dessert corner as well. Does anyone know what this Thai dessert is called?

All these photos are making me hungry! Time to look for a Thai restaurant nearby.

Windsor Suites Hotel Bangkok
18-20 8 Sukhumvit Soi
Bangkok 10110, Thailand
02-2621234

If not for our sponsors, we wouldn’t have had a wonderful time in Thailand. Thank you to Travel Guard Chartis for providing us Travel Accident Insurance from November 20 to 27, 2010.

At least it was a worry-free experience since we knew we had a well-established and reliable insurance company that would take care of us just in case something bad happened during the trip.

Before I continue talking about my wonderful experience in Thailand, I’d like to thank our transportation sponsor for the whole trip, Thai Rent A Car by Petchburee Car Rent Thailand. Each team was given spacious vans which served as our second home during the trip.

In Chiang Mai, rides on the Thai Rent A Car vans were my opportunity to catch up on sleep. I guess the same can be said for Bangkok since I would doze off every time I got on board. I guess that’s testament to how comfortable the rides are.

They have branches in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Samui, Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket. For contact numbers and branch locations, visit the Thai Rent A Car website.

We visited another skin clinic for more facial treatments. I got a facial whitening and rejuvenation treatment from Sarinya Clinic. When we arrived, they first gave us a tour of the clinic showing us the different treatment rooms on all three floors. In fact, they have the latest laser technology available for their advanced facial skin treatments.

The head of Sarinya Clinic is Dr. Sarinya Watcharachan who has a Certificate in Dermatology and Cosmetic Dermatology from Suphannahong Institute.

The whitening treatment lasted an hour. It was perfect given that I got really dark because of all the time under the sun during this tour. And I got to relax again. In fact, I dozed off during the treatment and found myself really rejuvenated afterwards.

Sarinya Clinic
34/3 Soi 7 Sirimungkrajarn Road
Tumbon Suthep, Umphur Muang
Chiang Mai
+ (53) 216924
ae901072@yahoo.com

The thing I like about Chiang Mai is that even new hotels and resorts exude the local architecture and culture. Rachamankha Hotel is no different. I was charmed by the whole complex which was a beautiful expression of old Lanna architecture.

The centerpiece of the hotel is a 400-year old timber structure that serves as the lobby. But the new buildings pay homage to Chiang Mai’s golden age and take inspiration from Wat Phratat Lampang Luang, north Thailand’s finest extant Lanna period temple. So it was quite difficult to say which were the old or contemporary structures in the hotel complex.

We actually had our first lunch at Rachamankha which is a member of the prestigious Relais & Chateux. This was our first in a series of sumptuous traditional Thai meals.

The hotel was in fact awarded Best Boutique Hotel at the Thailand Boutique Awards 2010. It also won Outstanding Culture and an Award for Architecture.

Rachamankha Hotel
6 Rachamankha 9, Phra Singh, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand
+66 (53) 904111 to 3 / +66 (53) 904114 Fax
info@rachamankha.com