Thailand set to break massage world record
BANGKOK (AP) â€" Thailand has long been known as the massage capital of the world. Now it's going to prove it.
Some 800 masseuses in Bangkok were vying to make it into the Guinness World Records book on Thursday by mass-massaging 800 people simultaneously for 12 minutes, according to the Health Ministry, which was organizing the event to promote the Southeast Asian nation's massage and spa industry to the world.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was to preside over the spectacle at an arena in the capital, and a representative from Guinness World Records was also expected to attend.
If successful, the masseuses would more than triple the previous record â€" attained in Australia in 2010 â€" of 263 people being massaged at the same time for five minutes.
Although many of country's massage parlors notoriously double as fronts for prostitution, many more are legitimate spas offering all kinds of treatments, from aromatherapy to foot rubs to Thai "traditional massage" â€" an ancient art offered at shops across Bangkok that is still practiced and taught at the city's revered Wat Pho temple.
The Health Ministry estimated last week that the industry generated up to 30 billion Thai baht (nearly $1 billion) in revenue, state media reported.
Health Minister Wittaya Buranasiri has said he wants to see the industry bring in even more revenue. The National News Bureau of Thailand reported that the government "is aiming to make Thailand the world's ultimate destination for massage, with plans to improve the quality of the workers, offer more massage classes to the public and set up a massage center in every hospital."
Associated Press writer Thanyarat Doksone contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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