Bua saved my big toe and thus my 3-week holidays. I had injured my big toe on the first day pretty badly and was close to despair thinking that I have to spend three weeks of holidays in a chair. Bua creamed, massaged and bathed my big toe and after three days everything was again all right with my world with a useable toe.  

During the three weeks I returned several times to Bua. She works as a masseuse on the beach in Phuket, Thailand. We made friends and she told me about her life, showed photos and part of the family.  

Bua is 43 years old, has two children of 9 and 13 years, her husband works as a taxi driver at the airport in Phuket. She is from the north of the country, where her family is doing fish farming and growing vegetables. Proudly she showed me the new buildings on the farm. She also has a 102-years old blind grandmother and a lot of other relatives.  

Until five years ago Bua worked in a hotel but she found the work very exhausting. The hotel was very far away and she had to drive almost an hour per direction. During the first two years working in the hotel she had five traffic accidents. Numerous scars are the reminder of those. She showed me all of them.

She found that too much and retrained to being a masseuse. She is very good at her job and has a trained muscular body, as Thai massages require quite some physical efforts. She herself thinks that she will be able to do the job for maybe another seven years, then it will become physically difficult.  

Bua earns 800 to 100 Bath (about 30 Francs) per day. She works every day (apart from the birthdays of her children) and that 7 months per year (peak season). During the remaining five months there are no guests so she has no option to work. For a one hour massage she charges 300 Bath and 170 of that she has to give to the owner of the roof on the beach where she is working. She also has to pay for the material needed and the required uniform.  

Per month she pays 3000 Bath for the rent of her flat and another 15000 are needed for food, clothes and general maintenance. The rest she is saving.  

She is not entitled to anything. No work contract, no paid holidays, no insurance, no old-age pension.  

For the western world these conditions are hard to imagine. Despite all she is a very satisfied, confident and friendly person. I miss her very much, her joy, contentment and confidence.  

If you want to enjoy her great massage let me know before you go to Phuket and I will let you know where do you find her exactly.