The best spas in Thailand
Thailand is Asia’s big-hitting wellness destination, with a clutch of grande dames and newcomers on the well-established spa scene keeping the country at the top of many people's must-visit list. From retreats on lush islands such as Phuket to urban boltholes in buzzy Bangkok, these are our 10 favourite spas across the country.
- Chris Schalkx
Rakxa, Bangkok
At first, I was twitchy, knowing that Bangkok was on my doorstep. Rakxa is a quick cab ride from everything I love about the Thai capital: its fizzing artisanal creativity, its late-night live music, its spicy street food. Yet when Rakxa got me in its clutches, I gave in entirely and stayed willingly, the city forgotten. This spa retreat’s secret weapon is its partnership with VitalLife Scientific Wellness Center of Bumrungrad International Hospital, one of Asia’s most respected and sought-after medical institutions. This Rakxa outpost takes a holistic approach to anti-ageing and preventative health, working in a diagnostic way and prioritising data, not on a hunch. It has an in-house team of doctors who can turn around test results swiftly and instantly source supplements or medication. Yet this clinical efficiency is softened by the graceful surrounds. Nestled in a leafy bend of the Chao Phraya River, Rakxa actually sits on an island carved by the city’s famous canals, or klongs, which cut off this place from the thrum of the city.
I warmed to the quietude of the suburbia-style set-up, freewheeling on upright bicycles along wide avenues amid immaculate landscaping between my waterside villa, the teahouse and organic farm. Rakxa is also strong on the traditional. At its alternative medicine centre, under striking double-height vaulted ceilings, the team can provide shirodhara, acupuncture, hydrotherapy and other holistic treatments. There’s scope to mix up physiotherapy and neuromuscular training with nutrition, stress and sleep management, as well as aesthetics. The commitment to guests is impressive. Even after my departure, anti-ageing specialist Dr Wimonchan Wutthikongsombat organised a follow-up Zoom meeting to discuss hormonal balance. My assigned personal trainer Jirapat “James” Pongsalee emails me YouTube videos to remind me to do my exercises. I take Rakxa home with me, happily. New this year: Deepak Chopra is organising The Life & Soul Longevity Retreat from 20-25 March 2024, with sessions and practices teaching guests everything from improving your health span to spiritual mediatation techniques and bespoke treatment plans. Michelle Jana Chan
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast) can arrange a three-night Sense of Rakxa programme from £2,689 per person sharing, including transfers, full board and treatments
- Chris Schalkx
Chiva-Som, Hua Hin
This is the undisputed queen of spas. After Chiva-Som’s 28 pioneering years at the forefront of medical and holistic health, there is nowhere better to support, soothe and save than this seaside resort in Hua Hin, three hours’ drive from Bangkok. I had last visited two decades before, so was intrigued to see if the Thai idyll still held ground. As an iconic destination spa in today’s competitive global playground, it couldn’t be as impressive as I remembered, could it? Wouldn’t it feel outdated?
All my misgivings melted the moment I arrived. Everything was updated, with slick attention to detail. I instantly felt safe amid its manicured beauty. Cheewee Khongtreekaeo, whose name means “life”, gave me a wellness consultation, and having concluded that my body was rigid with shock, immediately prescribed me an alkaline gut healing menu to reset my acidic digestive system. She educated me on stress release. You have to address the physical pain and trauma first, then when the body loosens, the mind can begin to let go. “Eat slowly,” she coaxed. “Allow yourself to reset.”
After 24 hours, I realised that I was too weak and mentally fractured to cope with the hunger of the low-calorie, gut-boosting menu. The food on this stricter programme is designed to reduce inflammation and stimulate liver detox. I needed nutritional nourishment; to build myself up. Meal times soon became punctuations of utter delight each day. Since my last visit a stunning glass restaurant by the beach had been added. The food alone balms the soul. Exquisite bone broths, probiotic salads, tiny pops of sweetness. This is world-class sustenance: guilt-free, alkaline, health-defining cuisine that makes your system sing. Khongtreekaeo was angelic, curating my schedule to suit my erratic needs. Too tired for yoga? Have flotation therapy instead, where the candle-lit, salty womb-like pool encourages emotional and spiritual release. Information is instantly conveyed between therapists, so your healing journey ticks along in a beautifully bespoke manner.
What still elevates Chiva-Som above other destination spas is the intuition of the therapists. I wept when one of the physiotherapists took one look at me, touched my shoulder and said, “I understand”. I had been hunched, trying to protect my heart. Compositional analysis of my body proved that my spinal health was good. I was reassured there was nothing structurally wrong with me but it was essential that I mentally release. Brilliant Japanese acupuncturist Satoshi Hashimoto provided a sobering wake-up call. Unless I let go, he warned, I was heading for a full-on breakdown. Using thin Japanese needles, he practised a form of bloodletting at my feet and at the back of my head to promote energy. I sobbed uncontrollably. With pranayama classes to steady my frazzled mind, and stretching sessions with a physiotherapist to elongate my body with skilled precision, I began to release. Listening to the sea breeze rustling the frangipani leaves by Saan Taa Yai spirit house became a daily emollient for my psyche. Advised that I needed space within my body to allow in breath, I expanded in every sense. When in extremis, Chiva-Som gave me perfect intensive care. Anna Pasternak
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast) can arrange a seven-night stay from £4,169 per person sharing, including transfers, full board, daily fitness activities, a daily massage and a cash credit to spend on extra treatments
Absolute Sanctuary, Koh Samui
What an absolute bargain. It’s hard to think of another tropical spa – even in Thailand, where reasonable rates are more often than not the rule – that offers quite so much for comparatively so little. In a spruced-up hotel on a steep hillside inland, about 10 minutes from the coast, Absolute Sanctuary has now honed its delivery of a comprehensive but easy-going programme of fitness, cleansing, detox, weight-loss and stress-reduction regimens to such an extent that it’s quite likely the person in tree pose next to you will be a fan on a repeat visit. Here’s the opportunity to join outstandingly good and varied daily reformer Pilates and yoga, eat delicious and nutritious vegetarian meals, and enjoy all the usual spa treatments.
Everyday pleasures on a South-east Asian island go without saying: the limpid warmth you wake up to each day, the hours and hours of mind-rinsing sunshine, the balmy nights. Being inland is perhaps a bit of a drawback, but morning hikes to the beach and an afternoon shuttle bus there compensate. You need have no fear of coming here alone, keeping to yourself, just sleeping and relaxing with a book, or chatting around the pool. Evenings are quiet, unless you want to join the inevitable group going into town. With sometimes patchy Wi-Fi it’s sensible to bring plenty to read. But in all key points, it delivers. Adriaane Pielou
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast; 020 7843 3592) can arrange a 7 night Yoga programme from £1,749.00 per person sharing, including transfers, full board accommodation and inclusions of the programme
- Kamalaya Koh Samui
Kamalaya, Koh Samui
When Kamalaya opened in 2005, it cleverly embodied the spirituality of an Indian ashram wrapped in the comfortable trappings of a tropical sanctuary. It was a niche but successful formula that was all down to John and Karina Stewart. Canadian John spent 16 years as a monk in the Himalayas, and his charismatic wife is an alumna of Princeton and Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Their joint vision resulted in Kamalaya. Fittingly, a mystical shrine used for centuries as a retreat by Buddhist monks forms the beating heart of the place, which now spreads around it, extending steeply downhill to a small sliver of beach. Villas are dotted among casuarinas and frangipani, with banana trees and boulders integrated into the architecture (the work of artist Robert Powell); the airy treatments rooms, two restaurants, swimming pools and yoga and Pilates shalas are hardly visible.
The food is healing and utterly delicious, and the animated communal table speaks volumes about the harmonious atmosphere (almost half the guests are solo). Days are focused and leave no time for consideration of how you look, trotting oily-haired from Ayurvedic head rub to Reiki session. The treatment menu runs the gamut from basic detoxes to emotional balancing, stress and burnout remedies, yoga and an optimal fitness programme. The latter is particularly well rounded, incorporating exercise (personal training, super-stretching, yoga and Pilates) alongside infrared-sauna sessions, physiotherapy and massages, and meditation and nutritional guidance. Kamalaya’s reputation as one of the world’s top destination spas, with value-added soul, is undimmed. Fiona Duncan
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com/condenast; 020 7843 3592) can arrange a 7 night Relax & Renew programme from £2,749.00 per person sharing, including transfers, full board accommodation and inclusions of the programme
Amanpuri, Phuket
Amanpuri was the first address in the global brand’s acclaimed portfolio, but exciting new spa programmes were added a few years ago. These 'immersions' were dreamt up by Aman’s CEO, wellness fanatic Vladislav Doronin, and launched by Chiva-Som’s former general manager Paul Linder at the glamorous hideout made up of traditional teak villas set across a one-time coconut plantation and private beach. Treatments focus on one of four wellness themes: cleansing, mental awareness, fitness or weight, taking a holistic approach that might incorporate kick boxing, massages, silent reflection or muay Thai. This is a sophisticated way to restore your health in one of the slickest settings in Thailand. Susan D'Arcy
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com; +44 20 7843 3592) can arrange a seven-night Life Reset Immersion programme from £7,999 per person sharing, including transfers, full board accommodation and inclusions of the Life Reset Immersion programme.
Samahita, Koh Samui
Originally a famous yoga teacher school, Samahita now welcomes yoga enthusiasts as well as experts. Set right on a strip of sand on Koh Samui, it’s the brainchild of Paul Dallaghan, an internationally renowned teacher. Solo travellers come here for the challenging schedules that mix yoga practices with spinning and high-intensity workouts. Design is pared-back and open-plan – the dining room is communal and food is locally sourced with wholesome fish and vegetarian dishes on the buffet-style menu. Many guests are drawn into the slow pace of life and keep coming back year after year, refining their yoga skills and building on their breathwork in this most serene of settings. Susan d’Arcy
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com; +44 20 7843 3592) can arrange a three-night YogaCoreCycle programme from £619 per person, including transfers, full board accommodation and inclusions of the YogaCoreCycle programme.
Six Senses Yao Noi
Set between Phuket and Krabi, this Six Senses outpost peeps over Phang Nga Bay. It’s the go-to destination for fitness fanatics in Thailand – a spot that kicks guests into shape without boot-camp bossiness. Training might include Thai kickboxing, rock climbing and yoga, as well as serious workouts in the glossy fitness centre. The spa is set on the hillside and modelled on traditional Northern Thai houses, incorporating local treatments into its acclaimed roster of options. Try chiropractic oriental massage, shirodhara, a Thai silk facial or herbal steam. Back at the villas, there are private pools to sink into and outdoor showers for invigorating wake-up calls before heading back to the fitness centre. Ondine Cohane'
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.com; +44 20 7843 3592) can arrange a seven-night Discover Yoga programme from £2,319 per person sharing, including transfers, accommodation, daily breakfast and inclusions of the Discover Yoga programme.
Rosewood Phuket
This was Rosewood’s first hotel in South-east Asia, and with it the brand’s wellness offering Asaya was launched. When it opened in 2018, Rosewood Phuket made waves with its eco-approach (vegetation was carefully removed then replanted during construction, rooms have living roofs, shower water is harvested from purified rainwater). Itineraries here last anything from three to 14 days, for quick stops or intensive regimes. Guests book HIIT sessions and meditation classes, mindful eating plans and massages, as well as more unusual Taoist healing treatments. And, this being a Rosewood, the hotel itself is impeccable – with glossy pools, wonderful restaurants and spot-on service. Harriet Jones
Keemala, Phuket
This wonderful Thai hideaway illuminates the hillside of Kamala Bay, on the west coast of the island, like so many fireflies in a bewitched forest. Suites seem to sprout out of the ground. Some resemble clay chestnut mushrooms, others rise up to the treetops like wooden-clad enoki, and the gentle hum of the wild is all around. Each one has a beautiful sapphire-blue pool big enough to do laps in. The hotel is family-owned and run, and it shows. It's not a slick operation, and is all the better for it. You can eat healthily from a light menu of steamed fish and organic vegetables, or go nuts on the lamb-shank massaman curry and sublime coconut pastries. Traditional Thai massages are given in bamboo pods surrounded by water and therapists blend home remedies of aloe vera and lavender to soothe sunburnt skin. Join morning flow-yoga classes, kick your butt into shape at a Thai boxing lesson or thrash about in the pool during an invigorating aqua-aerobics class. Lee Cobaj
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok
Hasn’t Bangkok’s grande dame aged beautifully? Transcending the competition while maintaining the history and traditions so adored by her repeat guests (more than 20 per cent of the hotel’s visitors have stayed more than once), the 145-year-old hotel only appears to get more ravishing. A few years ago, the original 19th-century Authors’ Lounge was preened to perfection, and four dreary signature suites were replaced with the marvellous Grand Royal Suite, 6,460 square ft of carved woodwork, silver filigree and shimmering silks.
A metamorphosis took place in the spa too. With its focus on traditional, deep-reaching treatments, plus a stunning waterside location, the spa has long been a destination in its own right. Try the pampering Oriental Harmony programme or yoga one-on-ones. Healthy food is on the menu: mango salad, sweet-sour tamarind fish soup, and shrimp and peanut curries, available in the restaurants, rooms, by the pool and in the spa. Upping the ante yet further is the Spa Studio, four glamorous treatment rooms in the serene Garden Wing, with an emphasis on results-driven, time-efficient therapies: rejuvenating facials; reflexology-induced micro naps; warming head-and-shoulder massages. All in all, the Mandarin Oriental offers a masterclass in growing old gracefully. Lee Cobaj