Comparing
Soaking in Southeast Asia and it’s sister / daughter sites focus mainly on countries within Asia where enjoying hot springs are less well-known practices and/or totally waiting to be discovered. In many cases these hot springs are under-developed or poorly developed.
Intending to seek out why in for instance Europe, soaking (and bathing) is very much a part of life, I was in the circumstance to visit a town known for it’s mineral waters while on business in Germany’s Harz region over the past summer.
Bathing History
Bad Lauterberg lies on the edge of the Harz, hemmed in by hills to the north, which shield the town from cooler winds. On the confluence of 3 streams, Lauterberg was known until the 19th century for mining, as was the whole of the Harz region. Wikipedia has a good entry on mining in the Harz.
It was then discovered that water emanating from lower layers of the mountains also contained high concentrations of minerals which can be attributed to an improved health level if frequently bathed in. Such was the interest that gradually the Lauterberg economy shifted from relying on mining (and metal manufacturing) to relying on bathing and it’s associated culture to survive; it became one of Germany's oldest spa-towns (source).
A few (up-scale) bathing places were created as well as the town undergoing development so as to make the bathers more happy, for instance the construction of promenades and parks.
Bad
Since the demise of mining, Lautenberg has been named Bad Lautenberg as in Germany much is gained by the term Bad. It is a government approved qualitative acknowledgment of being a place to bathe which can lead to an improved health status; a main reason why Germans are interested in ‘baden / kuren’ (and soaking).
In the case of Bad Lautenberg, the bathing waters are natural, though unheated. In Germany there is little difference between the two, as unheated waters are heated for bathing and both forms (heated and unheated) can be regarded as having significant health properties. This is scientifically backed up.
More famous bathing places such as Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden and Aachen do have natural hot waters. But not Bad Lautenberg.
Soaking in Bad
Bad Lautenberg possesses three locations for bathing. The choice falls on the Kirchberg Therme as it combines swimming pools with sauna without aiming at families, with the complete water circus of wave pools, slides, chutes and what have you. After all silence is golden ...
Connected to the Kirchberg Medical Centre, the therme (or spa) is part of the overall facilities used by ‘patients’ and/or guests. The therme consists of a restaurant, a fitness centre, two indoor swimming basins and a sauna complex.
Visiting on an early morning, most bathers were guests from the medical centre; use of the therme was free for these guests before 2 in the afternoon. The 2 modern free-form swimming basins were little used this morning (why?) and the cooler of the 2 pools surely could not be described as an attraction to me (too cold!).
Much better was the clothesfree sauna complex which contained a variety of sauna’s, a steam room and an outside swimming pool with extensive sunning lawn.
Somehow the larger swimming area required bathing clothes, possibly because the benefits of soaking should not be withheld from the less inhibited. However as said, the pools were mostly deserted whereas the sauna area was considerably populated by 20 or more patrons on that particular morning. Clearly most thought more highly of sauna use than of the possible advantages of the pool use; or couldn’t be bothered dressing up to use the pools. 
A photo from the spa's own web site.
In front the two pools while behind the rocks is the sauna garden ...
Your notesComparing to any experience in Southeast Asia is hardly possible.
First of all there is Germany's love affair with hot springs, which dates back to at least the era of Roman occupation (Cooper-Erfurt & Cooper, 2009) Since, soaking modes in Germany have waxed and waned, but to Germans soaking or 'kuren' is a scientifically proven method of medicine.
How important is this? - For instance the bible of Germany's spa's, Größchen's
'Heilbäder und Kurorte in Deutschland. Conradi-Bäderkunde-Lexikon'
counts more than 600 pages!
- In 2006 nearly 6.5 million soakers were recorded (Erfurt-Cooper & Cooper, 2010); visits lasting multiple days .
One must also note that when taking a longer wellness treatment German health insurance will covers this. No wonder soaking is so important ... See also the following: 'Today, Germany has one of the most comprehensive spa cultures in Europe, with the support of the German federal health care system to boot! The German equivalent for spa is Heilbad or 'healing bath' or Kurort which literally mean 'cure place'. Any town in Germany can qualify and choose to use the prefix 'Bad' or bath before their town name i.e. Bad Soden. Those towns that qualify have met the strictest air and water quality standards and have been able to establish the necessary medical staff and infrastructure to cater to those seeking treatment.
...
Once a Kur or cure therapy has been approved, a patient will be sent to a certified Kurort or spa where a patient will enjoy a holistic experience of exercise, nutrition, relaxation, communication and motivation custom-fitted by doctors and medical staff. The focus is to provide a Kur guest with the best possible natural environment to cure or prevent the further development of illnesses'.
Then there is the level of facilities to draw in the comparison.
Concerning the emphasis on medical efficiency in Germany and German cultural pursuit of high standards, levels of hygiene are extremely high and are first most in thoughts of managers.
Competition between facilities means that increasingly higher lay-outs are required and for the visitor this means the facilities are more and more luxurious and at the same time larger and more diverse.
But other than these two aspects (medical culture / standards ) I believe there is little that would differ between soaking here in Southeast Asia and in Germany. In general soaks in both are mostly visited by locals, most patrons are slightly older and / or health conscious. Having such facilities in Southeast Asia could be possible, though the price differential would exclude most locals.
So an in-between situation could be created. For instance hygiene is greatly lacking at 99.9% of Southeast Asia's soaking sites, but simple measures need not cost too much but can result in far better hygienic situation.
My own preference? Well that would be a bit unfair. making a choice. The soaking culture in Southeast Asia is mostly non-existent and / or real foreign to myself whereas the experience above isn't ...
As usual there is hardly any news to comment on. Then again if you mention hot springs in your national budget, as Thailand is doing, then this is important! Then again, it's only a mention.
Furthermore a news story from the Philippines: 'The Department of Tourism (DOT) has plans to develop the Mt. Kanlaon as Philippines’ newest eco-tourism site'.
Newest eco-tourism site? Probably what they mean is the newest developed eco-tourism site. Is that not a contradiction? Unfortunately the report does not mention what is planned. The relevance:
'The volcano has three hot springs on its slopes: Mambucal Hot Springs on the northwest, Bucalan Hot Spring, Bungol Hot Spring'.
Blog reports then. More soaks added to the lists. A consistent theme in many of the highlighted are comments on the clothing etiquette.
Malaysia Naturally, Poring is mentioned oft in blogs on Malaysia. Experiences are far short of what is expected, as Diane points out: 'It is poky little bath tubs that you stand in, and wait forever to the water to fill. For some reason taking a bath in public rather than chillin in a natural rock pool was not appealing to me. It was also holiday season so it was full of school kids running around'.
Jasin hot springs? A not yet included hot springs in Malacca state. Why not? Because! 'This hot springs is also known as Taman Rekreasi Air Panas Jasin was built on the historic site of Natural Hot Springs Pool which was first opened on May 1884'.
Woops! Does not look too bad. More info here as well. Is this not Gadek hot springs?
More question marks: Lubuk Timah, found here. Question mark no more.
Not more misses! After so much research I thought I had almost all Malaysian hot springs covered. It's not a volcanic actively country, so there can't be that many. But yet again. This time it's Ulu Legong in Kedah state. For a report visit this blog posting by Ed and Cher: 'The place is actually opened 24 hours. Now, have you ever heard of a recreation park most visited after midnight??? Well this is just the place. There were tons and tons of people here hanging around the pool, swimming, camping and just lepaking around'.
Lepaking? Gathering, researching and / or hanging out are the quick interpretations. Learning more every day. Any roads the site has many photo's and even a video.
And believe it or not, but there's another blog from the same place. From
aeiween with photo's and a short comment:
'Because after i tried it my whole body's skin really feel soft and smooth! HoHo~ :)'.
Vietnam
What is with mud and Vietnam? Binh Chau have the mud bath. Alia in Korea describes a day at Binh Chau. "Our tour guide drove us over, but didn't mention that the hot springs was a bathing suit-necessary activity".
...
An employee put a few bags of prepackaged mud and some scented oil in a bucket, and we just had to rub it on our skin and wait a little while for it to dry, while walking around outside'.
She obviously had a good time, but was surprised by this: 'was reminded how modest Americans are when some woman (I think most of the other foreign tourists that day were German) came into the bathroom and got naked to change without bothering to go into a stall. There was even a window in the restroom door, but she obviously wasn't concerned. It's funny to get little peeks of how other people and other cultures operate'.
Hilarious?
National hot spot with mud are the Thap Ba springs near Nha Trang: 'We had a mud bath in these mud pits, then layed in hot mineral water, and swam in mineral waterfalls. The water was very hot, but after your skin felt so good. It was really fun to splash around in the mud, and swim in the pools. The whole process was very unique including high pressure jets to wash all the mud off'.
Such was Traveling Tami's experience.
- In the town of Tu Le, Yen Bai province, things are less upmarket:
'Thai ethnic people in the town bath in natural hot springs. In the afternoon, normally from 5pm, they come to the hot water pool next to the Nam Cuom spring, taking off their clothes and enjoying the hot water and natural surroundings'.
More from northern Vietnam. While trekking in and around Sapa, NMCutler visited an unnamed hot spring: 'The hot spring, unfortunately, was disappointing in scope but very, very nice at the same time'.
?
SingaporeSingapore, having only two hot springs, one of which is off-limits, means the other, Sembawang, gets blogged quite often. See here a good (photo) report by ygblog4. He reminiscences a past visit: 'what we saw were some kampong houses around a stream and some puddles. quite a number of kampong folks were around the spring, some washing their clothes and some cooking their eggs, like what we did today'.
He also sheds some light (and a photo) on the area before authorities sanitized the soak: 'the place is open from 7.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. every day. the scene today is a far cry from what we witnessed in 2006 when the place was packed throughout the day, regardless of weekday or weekend. before they cemented the place and put all those retrictions in place, you could cycle or even drive and park right next to the hot spring'.
That's progress. But considering the reports from sites in neighbouring Malaysia, it's either a privatized money maker or a dump (or both).
Thailand- More strange customs concerning clothing and soaking. This unnamed blog entry from Pai:
'And we went to Pai Hot spring. It’s a wonderful natural hot spring and it is a major public service for thai and foriegners for a bath or a long soak (with clothes on) :). It’s Thailand so customs in hot spring is quite different than somewhere else. Local people who bathe in this hot springs always keep themselves covered with clothes or thai skirt (a simple skirt somewhat like a tube skirt / sarong). If you want to do local thai spa, just only bring one blanket and sit next to the pool! It works!! The Others hot pools can make an boiled eggs, the temperature is about 80 celcious!!'
Philippines - Maquinit hot springs on Palawan. Zoechairein reports:
'The hot water came from a spring in the mountain and it’s naturally hot and salty! The discoverer of this hot spring initiated to create a pool that will gather the hot water at the foot of the mountain'.
- Though I have some of my own tough experiences finding hot springs, finding Baslay hot springs on Negros proved nearly insurmountable for Stupidlyperfect [what's in a name?]:
The ride did not go smoothly and safe as what I’ve expected. While we were on our way up on the super rocky and bumpy road under the pouring rain, the habal-habal [moto-taxi] slid for two times.
...
After the two slight accidents, we decided to walk the remaining part of the road leading to the entrance of the hot springs. And the walk was not a joke. I am already running out of breath in trekking the right-angled rocky road as the raindrops mixed my sweat.
...
After the descending and ascending walk on the 400 concrete steps to the hot springs, we finally reached the spot.
...
As soon as I dipped myself on the pool, I realized that it is not bad after all'.
Who said soaking was no fun? Another hot springs to list.
And would believe it, there's another blogger who made it there! Optimistic Dora describes her travels in getting to Baslay hot springs. 'It is almost 10kms from the proper Dauin. It may sound just a short distance, but 3kms of this is what you need to walk to reach the spring, because of a bumpy road. The motorcycle cannot anymore resist to the roads, so we need to walk.
...
Finally, we find it. But the misery of walking did not end there. We need to pass the thousand steps of their developed ladder in going down to the hot spring and the river near to it'.
And oddly she ends her story such: 'Until now, the clothes I wore in bathing in the spring still smells sulfur and that would remind me of Baslay hot spring'.
- Asin hot springs, an easier find, a more pleasant experience?
'It was a crowded Sunday so I got bummed out because the all the pools seem congested'.
- Mateo hot springs:
'The Mateo Hot Springs resort turned out to be a dump. The room cost 1000 pesos for a very basic room with its own bathroom. No facilities open for even a cup of coffee. So we were tired after a very long day and no food or drink with us. Got frustrated with the owner that she wouldn't even make us a drink. The hot springs were open and so we went for a relaxing soak to ease away the stresses of the day'.
News on Southeast Asian hot springs is sparse. One possible exception is a report in the travel section of the Bangkok Post. Despite all the travel writings currently focusing on home tourism, one of the Posts reporters has had a probably all-expenses paid trip to Japan and reports on the attractions.
On the 5th of March a photo report on Sendai was published. A caption to an innocent picture reads: ‘There are numerous areas boasting onsen (hot springs) in the Tohoku region. Many onsen bathhouses have both indoor and outdoor pools. In the latter, you can also relish the beautiful scenery as well as fresh cool air while relaxing in the warm mineral rich water. One inhibition for most Thai and even some Westerners, is the going naked part. But once you overcome it, the rest is easy and enjoyable. Keep in mind that you can use a little tower to cover your private part when out of the water. Sure enough the Japanese themselves do so too’.
Well, if this inhibition was so easy to conquer, why isn’t it practiced in Thailand proper? More southeast Asia focused, an article from Vietnam. On so-called health tourism. Though in reality there's no news, just a report that if one wants to wallow around in mud, Thap Ba, near Nga Trang, South Vietnam is the place to go.And what is a first hand experience like? From Kate's blog: 'We spent the afternoon at a hot springs resort about 10 minutes outside of town. There was a 7 step regiment for optimal health benefits from this mud bath/mineral soak wonderland. We were ushered into a tub with a Vietnamese couple which was full of cool liquid mud the consistency of a chocolate shake. A somewhat awkward 15 minute soak in this small muddy bathtub with another couple involved all of us pouring pails of mud over our arms, chests, and backs. Most local people were in shorts and tank tops and we quickly figured out why. The mud got well trapped in our suits, especially between the layers of the lining and the outside, and made us both a muddy, saggy, bloated mess! In this goopy state, we were instructed to sit in the sun for 10 minutes before rinsing. The ground and rocks were so hot from the super-charged sun we were forced to hop from foot to foot to not burn our feet. Quite a sight. After a thorough mineral shower rinse, we were hustled into a 3 foot wide channel of rocks which sprayed water at you from all sides - imagine car wash meets leaky dam. After the pressure wash, we were pointed towards larger mineral hot tubs to soak with more strangers. After that, on to the big, but still hot, soaking pool. Keep in mind that it's a good 85-90 degrees out so at this point, we were not only pretty pruney but quite thoroughly cooked. We cut short our 7 steps to mineral-induced health and headed home feeling silky smooth with just a few pockets of mud in our ears.'
More blog reports: MalaysiaYet again quite a few postings, but somehow most seem disappointed .... - Poring:
‘It was a good thing that the pool of springs closed at a much later time, 7.30PM. The hot springs were set up like a huge public bathing area, Japanese style. Some pools fit more than 6 people, while some were built for just one person to submerge into. The smell of sulfur was strong, and the water was extremely hot, but it was so inviting after hiking unexpectedly in the jungle. After the first dip, you could just laze in the water forever'.
- Sungai Klah. Huge amount of photo's here. And here. And here.
- Some shots of Bentong hot springs by Budleee Rants. His rant: '
... it was a hot spring pool. An abandoned and unkempt one that is. The facilities are nice, but there was no one to maintain it. As a result, the place was unkempt and the pool was full of algae and other free living parasites'.
- Kerling hot springs. eXtreMesh has visited these springs:
'Place was well maintained and the river was clean and cool to dip into. Well when it comes to the hot spring, there is nothing much to be expressed about. The hot spring is a pool with not very hot water, i managed to get in the water and even dance, but did not feel the heat that much. I also noticed that the pool was not that clean and rather slippery to stand in it'.
Recommendable? Author comments: 'Even i was disappointed with the place as i reached there'.
Philippines
- Camaguin, ardent or not?
'After the falls, we went to one of the island's hot springs. And man, that truly was a heavenly experience. As I settled my ass and the rest of my body in the lovely 40°C water (that's 104°F to you Americans) I swear it felt almost like having an orgasm. Sweeet! I could hardly keep from moaning because it felt so damn good. I credit the hot springs for the lack of muscle soreness the next day. Sitting there, watching the mist rising from the water and being immersed in wet warmth was simply spectacular'.
Would anyone be surprised that this was posted by I Am Woman, See Me blog?
Thailand
- A short impression by Phil and Julia of Pai hot springs:
'Stepping in the water meant feet and ankles turned instantly lobster red.I couldn’t get more than my bum in the water and even that was a bit of a mission.'
- Thaisticky rice has another short impression of the nearby Pong Duet hot spring:
'At the bathing area they had a couple of nice looking hot spring swimming pools as well as private cabins or if you preferred you could just dangle your feet in the natural hot spring stream. As it was just after mid day and the day was already a scorcher the last thing I felt like doing was jumping in an even hotter bath of water so I gave the bathing a miss ...'.
The soak season in Indochina has passed apparently. So much for health reasons for soaking!
- Andy is still at it, this time from south Thailand, Ranong:
'They [the hot springs] were really nice, and free because they are government owned. It was all paved and tile but the pools were good temperatures (controlled by valves) and there were a lot of locals there. Some locals told me stories of how the spring water had saved peoples lives. I don't know if I believe the stories but I do believe hot springs in general have good health benefits. The girl at my guest house said I shouldn't walk at night to the springs because its a little out of town and its dangerous, but I did stay until past dark. So I figured I'd test my luck, but I met some nice thai people before I left and they gave me a ride back to the guest house. It didn't seem dangerous but I guess in a boarder town there is more danger than in other parts of thailand'.
Indonesia
- Blogs are an easy way of getting information out there without all the hassles of signing up, etc., etc. So easy, that commercial companies in Indonesia use them to plug their tour programmes. But sometimes they are not as appealing as the author may well think! On Banyuwedang hot springs, Bali:
'Flights Banyuwedang from the hot springs that appear on the beach.... Because the uterus sulfur high enough, hot water is widely held even up to the island this summer because the water can cure some diseases, especially skin disease. ... here is hot water that contains sulfur which is located along the coastal region is supported with a rare population so quiet atmosphere can be created.'
(?)
- Tangkahan in northern Sumatra (Aceh) is an area of wilderness and is managed as an ecotourism site. Some of the attractions are hot springs. This extensive report of the area mentions 2 hot springs.
Others On Thaivisa forum: Umphang (or as this site refers to Mae Klong) ‘The hot spring itself is amazingly not ruined. Thais have a nasty habit of concreting, paving, and tiling over hot springs, removing all sense of any natural aesthetic and completely defeating the purpose of the hot spring (they call it "progress" and "development;" you might as well soak in a tub with a hot water heater). This hot spring is just a natural pool with a rock/dirt floor located a few meters from the river. So you can soak hot and then go jump in the cold! There is even a small tributary hot spring just at the river's edge where you can lay in both hot and cold simultaneously!’
Just a few, mostly from the bloggosphere.Thailand
- Emerald pools, one of Thailands most scenic, visited by nadim and christina.
- Ranong in the south, gives a glimsp of why Thailand is so popular. Muddyrats:
'Around 25km from Ranong we decided to stop at the nearby Hat Yai Hot Springs and camp for the night. After a lovely bath at the hot springs frequented by locals we were invited by the ranger to sleep in the quarters instead stringing up our hammocks, an offer we couldn't decline. It was quite amusing to locals arriving on mopeds with only their towels on for their evening bath. We spent a lovely evening with some beers while trying to communicate in scraps of random English and Thai words'.
- Pai, the magnet of the north which besides a mellow and cool atmosphere has a couple of hot springs not to far off. Newtampo on travbuddy.com has a report in the making and some photo's.
There's also a hotsprings spa resort, though one visitor was not impressed by the hot tubs: 'I only had one complaint. The small sitting pool outside on the terrace took at least 100 gallons (?) to fill with water. However, the hot water tank outside the room was about a thirty gallon tank. Now the problem,…………when you fill the pool with Warm water (actually hot water and it takes about one and half hours to fill), the hot water will run out and the rest of the time it is being filled with cold water. So you get into a sitting pool that is uncomfortably cool. We both stepped in the sitting pool and decided it would not be a good idea, since the weather outside was cool'.
This complaint and more background and photo's of Pai's hot springs from S. Landreth.
Then here's another experience from one of Pai's hot spring hotels:'Spa Exotic which was the best advice we have received in Asia. Not only did it cost less then half the price of the regular hot springs most tourists are sent to but we had the place entirely to ourself and unlike the normal hot springs that are just twelve inches deep here we could swim! It was so so so nice and relaxing and was just what our tired traveling bodies needed!'
- Elsewhere Thai trekin seems to be missing something in Thailand.
'Seem like every hot spring in Thailand had been “commercialized”. I had for four years now tried to seek out a natural spot like I would imagine Yellowstone National Park. Only in disappointment I had the result. Of the so many hot springs claimed in Thailand, none are left in their natural state. All of them seemed to have been piped up. And sometimes one wonders, maybe the pipes tanks and valves are part of a huge boiler system. I mean with fake Louis Vuitton and such a plenty here, one can not help but wonder if the Thais could also fake nature as a tourist attraction'
Laos- An unknown spring? Possibly..., I've never heard of it, but Jamie in Asia has overnited here (Bor Nam On):
'After such a long day, I was thankful for the hot spring right outside my bungalow door!'
Malaysia
Again the Malaysians are doing a good job of talking up attractions such as this:
- Poring hot springs as blogged by jadeite ketsugi:
'The hot springs were a bundle of disappointment. They’d been bricked up to make about 50 small rectangular pits set into the ground and there were about a million people just stewing in them. Haaaack. It was…not…sanitary. What with the Malaysian men leering at us girls [oh come on, they're from Singapore after all], a stench of sulphur in the air and the general mayhem of half-naked people, cue our horrified shocked faces and an instant unanimous group decision to boycott the springs. Shudder. And look, we found a cooked frog in one of the springs!'
Complete with picture of the offended frog! Look up more photo's on her flickr site, and that's arguably one of the most popular hot springs sites in Southeast Asia!
- Then there's ... Sungai Klah, which seems to be one of the most if not the most blogged hot spring in Southeast Asia. Zentadony is just one of this month's contributors and another happy customer. Ayu Suriani is another:
'yay.my mum did it'.
Boil eggs that is !
Then for something different ....
One Asian nation's value's are not the same as others, nor are these value's stable in time. In my previous posting on Banjar hot springs I commented on the attention sign which implied that non-natural bathing was the way to go.
One would find this logical in a predominantly Muslim country, But Bali, being overwhelmingly Hindu, has (or better said had) a different look on things and the fact that many of their women went top-free actually was part of the nascent pre-WW II tourist PR campaign.
This purely male obsessed way of selling the island is documented by Australian scholar Adrian Vickers who published an extensive volume entitled "Bali, a paradise created".
Another great piece of insight comes from this site, Baliwww.com. In 'Bali unveiled', an article by Rucina Ballinger, it pay's attention to this issue as well. Especially the odd fact that as (non-western) societies crave modernity, they seek to cover up on their bodies as a sign of prosperity while contradictorily the western society dresses (nearly completely) down as a sign of wealth : 'to a Westerner, the more of the body that shows, the more the wearer is at leisure (and thus the wearer is in a more powerful position as s/he can afford to be at leisure)'.
This however does not explain why speedo's are out and boardies are in! Always mystifies that myself, but the essence is that the Balinese seem more at ease than most Asians with their body 'shame', though less so than before.Anyway erdging myself to the point, one of Japan's most noted 'pleasures' are the many hot springs (onsen) and public baths which are taken naturally, even co-ed. Though not everyone's cup of tea, most bloggers seem to like the experience and repeat this more often. For instance Japan rider: 'I love the Japanese onsen'.
Or an american elephant: 'This morning I went to my first onsen! It was amazing. Just a bit, steaming room of hot pools, and an outside set as well!'.
What about this recent article: 'Communing without swimwear in mixed hot baths is enjoying a renaissance among young women. ...
Essayist Mayumi Yamazaki authored "Dakara Konyoku wa Yamerarenai" (That's Why I Can't Stop Mixed Bathing), a book that explains the allure of mixed bathing. Published in late October, the book prompted a flood of e-mails and other correspondence from women. ...
In fact, I found I really enjoyed talking with the other bathers--maybe I too could get hooked on mixed bathing'.
However over the Sea of Japan, nudity (let alone mixed and naked!) is frowned on, so when this hot springs resort near Chongquing decided to attract more visitors, it was by putting naked models in the soaks, which arguably resulted in a great many of photo opts. Though I doubt whether this case of short lived 'free' PR, would help much in the long run, unless you hope to attract perverts / voyeurs, who misunderstood that bathing such is de-rigeur....
One reason that hot springs in Japan are popular is due to tradition and the estatic way these onsen have been built, blending in traditional styles of architecture with regard for the local environment. Then there's the social element (see above citations): one goes to a onsen to relax, not for Southeast Asia's brand of 'having fun'.
Shunning the idea of rebuilding the soaking area into a fun park which seems to be the (bland?) answer for most hot springs development in Southeast Asia, might be the way forward. Though absolutely sexist (and deadly cheap!), the idea brought into practice in Chongqing might warrant more research. Are there any hot springs in Southeast Asia where bathing au-naturel and co-ed is practiced? No? Well, who know's there might be business opportunity here ....
Copyright 2009 © Soaking in Southeast Asia. All rights reserved.
No reproduction or republication without written permission.
A photo from the spa's own web site.
In front the two pools while behind the rocks is the sauna garden ...
