River Paradise Massage, Kanchanaburi

Footnotes

[1] Massage parlours, or ’Aap ob nuat’ as they are called in Thai, can be found in virtually every city in Thailand and, although they might differ in luxury, size and cost, they almost always have the same setup. This setup consists of a lobby with a ’fishbowl’, a room where the girls (anywhere between 10 and 100+) are sat on several rows like in a stadium.
The girls are sometimes divided into different groups (’regular’ and ’super star’ for instance), each group will then usually have a different price as well.
The glass is supposed to be one way, but we seriously doubt this.
Besides these girls, more and more massage parlours are starting to provide ’sideline girls’ as well. Instead of sitting inside the fishbowl, these girls sit in a lounge type of setting so you can talk to them before selecting.
In the lobby there are usually one or more ’papasans’, men in suits that can tell you the specialties of the girls. If you have made your choice or if you have any special wishes tell these guys.
The rest of the setup consists of several rooms with a bathtub and bed. Some of the more lavish ’entertainment complexes’ can also have restaurants, topless-bars and/or karaoke on the premises.