Updates for March 2009

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 5^th 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:

Malaysia
Yet 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!’

Art and hot springs

Ando Hiroshige's: View from 7 hot springs at Hakone

Well, that's an exceptional topic I hear you say. It's not really a topic at all, there's not much linkage between the two, certainly not here in Southeast Asia. Some hot springs though are adorned with temple structures and / or carvings, but it's much more culture rather than art.

I started thinking of this subject when I came across a number of beautiful photo's by Hillary Atiyeh which she made at Breitenbush hot springs, Oregon, U.S.A.. She describes herself as

"Photographer of nature, wildlife, travel, adventure, aerial, underwater, photojournalism, environmental and social advocacy and fine art prints".

The various combo's of photo's ("Work in progress **Hot Springs**") probably fall in the underwater bracket, but nature, adventure, travel could also apply.

I personally think they are very attractive and original, though then again water and people are quite common themes in art. So I thought that this must be recurring theme. However the subject seems quite unresearched.

Some of the examples found:

• Frommers explains to us that soaking in hot springs there is an art in it self!

  'Nowhere is the experience of taking a bath so celebrated, ritualized and revered as in the cities and regional areas of Japan'.

  Especially when it comes to etiquette, a fact that us most westerners take for granted in everyday life. Even for Southeast Asians the rules may prove challenging, witness (or not yet as is the case!) the Bangkok Post advice dispensed in a blog entry end of this month. Then again some parts of the art are self-evident:

  'clean yourself before soaking!'

• More on the same art:

  'Bathing in Japan really is something of an art, or has at least been elevated to the status of it. This brings us to the first and most important rule of bathing in Japan: no suds in the tub — ever'.

  Again not really art, but the blog (antipixel.com) does contain some nice black and white photo's.

• Another art form is the Japanese art of manga, alas here it's mostly female oriented, the hot springs providing an opportunity to undress the subject.

  'Obligatory Onsen (hot springs) Story': I usually call this the 'Obligitory Onsen Episode' because in anime there is almost ALWAYS an episode where the main characters head for a hot springs. But now I am noticing that this happens in shoujo manga a whole lot too. It usually happens in the form of a school trip, and involves the main hero and heroine of the story encountering each other unexpectedly in the bath, and having a few nice minutes of romantic/sexual tension ^_^;

  At least, they're sort of decent [1]

• Again Japan, but not so hot springs, but nonetheless with some fringe connections. Paintings on sento (public bathing places) walls:

  'A vivid blue paint fills the huge wall of the Sento, the public bath house, and in no time, bold brush strokes with great momentum create an image of Mount Fuji and crashing waves… As a long-standing tradition, Japanese Sento users have enjoyed many of these panoramic views on the walls of their beloved hazy bath houses which are an integral part of Japanese life'.

There are quite a few artists impressions of hot springs:

• Ant Vaughan (artsy photo)

• Jimn Hill:

Is this art? [2]

• Beitou hot springs (Taiwan) has a museum, no less. Though this is more culture than art.

  'This museum is housed in public hot spring bath built during the Japanese colonial era. his is a good spot to learn about Beitou's rich hot spring culture and history'.

• More culture? Huaqing, China:

  'Ranked among the Hundred Famous Gardens in China, it also has the status as a National Cultural Relic Protection Unit and a National Key Scenic Area.'

  Again more history. With some architecture.

• An "Art" Spa hotel in Jilan, Taiwan. It has nothing to do with art though!

• Radium hot springs, U.S.A., has an art show, but little connection between art and hot springs other than the physical location.

• What about cinema? Easy Rider from 40 years ago contained scenes from a hot spring. Can't seem to come up with photo's from the scene's though. More suggestions? Well, a year later a list has been created on soakers forum. Easy Rider, Dante's Peak, Into the Wild, Legends of the Fall, Nevada Smith, North to Alaska, Old Joy, A River Runs Through It, Celebration at Big Sur, Lunch with Charles, Black Dawn, Every Second Counts and the River Wild. More? From Japan? Departures does have a traditional bathing house.

• Literature?

• Probably the most intriguing is the inovel by Steve Zio aptly titled Hot springs.
  

  'Hot springs are about indulging the senses and living in the moment. They’re about finding a deeper connection through warmth and relaxation. This connection differs from person to person, of course, and the Hot Springs website aspires to be whatever you want it to be. Whether you’re a reader of the book, have an interest in the Hot Springs art, music, and multimedia experience, or if you’re more inclined to pool your talents (by sending your own art, music, photos, links) with other online contributors on the Hot Spring theme, then please just dive right in.
  
  We’re made mostly of water, our lives our fluid, and we came from the seas. Through Hot Springs and hot springs, we can explore this liquid matrix and delve as deep as we want to go. And the best thing about plunging into.'

Keep soaking!:

This piece, detailing conversation from a recent trip to Cougar, has just been completed for the great French anthology, Stereoscomic. By Kalah Allen.

Update [June 2012]

Tom Manning: 

'Where the the hot water comes from and where the water gets hot'.

Henry Yuen:

'"Hot tub all to ourselves"
11 x 14 inch Silkscreened Print
If you can get to Bagby Hot springs early, you may get the tub all to yourself. Then you can stretch out and catch up on a good book'.

Excuse me! Do you mind?

One of the most talked about issues in soaking and taking to the hot springs is when to decide whether the soak is full and how to respect each others private sphere.

Having lived in Nepal and keeping abreast of what's (or better said not) happening I came across this recent photo from Kantipur publications, I'd like to share with you. It shows a hot spring near the town of Beni in Central Nepal, though not the Tatopani located on the round the Annapurna trail.

People submerge themselves into the Tatopani Pokhari (hot water pond) in Myagdi district. There is a belief that taking dip into the pond help one to get rid of several diseases. Photo taken by G. Khadka, 2009-02-13

I've visited this place myself, it's just a couple of hours walk west of the town along the river, nothing too strenuous. Back then (96/97?) it was already quite touristy, but only locals and nowhere as busy as above!

However it was great water, not too hot, nor cold and located directly next to the river. The village around had a couple of simple guesthouses to stay. As you can see, there a number of bathing fashions, from fully clothed to near nothing (in the back). What I remember was that most bathed in their underwear, which might not be so hygienic. Funny thing was that many people carried a slate rock around, twice / three times as large as their hand and when standing up to retreat from the soak the rock was held to cover possible butt cracks and /or more showing up. Quite weird I thought.

Nepal has got quite a few hot springs and is well worth a trip to discover. Besides this one I've been to the more Tatopani north of Beni, Tatopani on boarder at the main road to China and one directly north of Kathmandu, west of Langtang valley (Chilime).

There are more, from what I know in Darchula, Surkhet, near above photo's hot springs but another days walk to the west, Manang and probably more to the east.

In relation to the above, I found this blog entry on hot springs in Taiwan: Rules of Chinese traditional hot spring baths. It's quite interesting, especially if you note the lack of rules in Southeast Asia. Now where does the line lie between rules and none at all?

1. Don't wear clothes

   'Requiring every person to soak only in their birthday suits seems to be a sanitary issue'.

2. Clean up

   'Every person must wash before hitting the bath'.

3. Don't confuse the buckets
4. Don't move

   'Once in the bath, patrons are not to move at all. I ran my hands over my legs to try and alleviate the feeling of conflagration. Surprise: I got yelled at'.

5. End it after 20 minutes.

Juliane then ends the post on a upbeat:

'Soaking privately in a modern hotel room will never compare to my first experience with the ahmas. Although I have to admit, it is nice not to get yelled at while naked'.

!!!!!!

Updates for February 2009

Avid followers of this blog will have realized some minor changes. One of them is including a number of great links to mostly link sites of hot springs elsewhere. These include NZhotpools, onsensoaker (and her blog) and the soakerforum (of mostly North America).

In the news section not much to mention. Bangkok Post have been to Pai and visited / granted free publicity to the new Pai Hot Spring Spa Resort. This is the same resort which bloggers where not too happy with as reported in the January 2009 update. As stressed hot water seems to be in short supply!
Reviews on sawadee.com:

'hot water shower ran out within 5 minutes'

agoda.com:

'they provide hot spring pools to serve customer but most of them not hot and dirty'.

asiarooms.com:

'Even facilities like the spa pool was slimy and slippery'.

Then again others were satisfied ...

More from bloggosphere:
Malaysia

• Another previously unmentioned hot spring to add to the list: Kampung Panchor, Sarawak. More info here.

• Kerling hot springs put on photo by extremesh.

• More Sungai Klah. A great photographic overview by leemyjessy.

Philippines

• Maquinit is visited by Anna Mae. Besides some nice photo's, she adds:

  'Maquinit Salt Water Hot Spring is the only known saltwater hot spring in the Philippines, if not in the world. The water is a comfortable 40°C and I felt immediately relaxed when I climbed into the water. The hot salt water made my skin tingle, or maybe it was stinging all of the cuts and bruises I had received from diving. Whatever it was, it felt good'.

Cambodia

• Onsensoaker provided me with this link to a Japanese NGO site which details a visit to Tei Touk Pous. She translates:

  'It says " a Chinese company has a right to manage there for 99 years", " No guest at the cottages", "Best location and worst access".'

Thailand

• Another blogger, Andy Daniels, has picked up on hot springs in Thailand.

  'I am beginning to realize how strange my obsession with hot spings are... '.

  Among the hot springs Andy has visited are the hot springs of Hin Dad, Khanchanaburi:

  'The springs were really nice, big pools that fit a lot of people and were deep. You could see the bubbles from the hot water in the middle of the biggest pool. There were 3 temperatures, two big hot ones at about 106, another shallower pool at about 101, and a pool with monks in it at about 103 (that one had a sign that said "no women"). Then there was the cold river right there, great for the hot/cold therapy.'

  And an unknown hot spring near Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son province:

  'The springs were across a little river with a bamboo bridge and were the first sulfur springs I have seen. I went up to the sources first which were very hot, had the sulfur smell, and the white algee typical of a sulfer spring. The soaking tub was down near the government bungalows that the people who took care of the springs lived in. It was a very big tub in a bungalow that the guy who had pretty much been following me and pointing to where I should go had to turn the water on to start it filling up (he had good vibes but couldn't speak English, I think he followed so I felt like I was finding them myself).'

  Phra Ruang, Kampaeng Phet:
  

  'The hot springs were pretty developed like the other ones but it was maintained on a donation basis. There was a center area (in full sun) with lots of different temp deep smaller pools, and then shallower pools around them. It didn't look like they were ever cleaned though, so at first I thought I might not be able to soak. Then I found another pool near a small man made lake that kids were riding little swan paddleboats on. That was the maintained soaking pool! It was about 103-104 and had umbrellas around for shade, and wooden planks to sit on. The source was next to it in a little raised pool that older Thai women were filling up drinking water from'.

  Mae Kasa, Tak:

  'The hot spings where a bunch of wells with artesian (flowing water) hot water coming out. Mineral deposits had formed around the wells, there were maybe 4 total and some places where the water was just coming out of the ground. The water was too hot to soak and there were not many good pools. The only good pool was in direct sunlight and it was the middle of the day so I didn't soak. There was a park area around one of the well things that had grass and some food venders. It looked like they were working to build the hot spings up more, there was also a large sized pool that was not filled with water, and some privat rooms with little tile tubs that did not look maintained.'

  Pha Charoen, Tak:

  'It was large holes with really hot water, and completely natural.'

  and Mae Klong (Umphang), Tak province:

  'Then the hot springs were wonderful. Completely natural with maybe 102 degree water and under bamboo shade'.

  All included in this blog post.
  
  Later on he reports from hot springs near Mae Hong Son:

  'First place I went was the Mud Spa [Phu Klon?] , which really was a hot spring but they collected the mud out of the source and made a spa out of it. There were a lot of people there and I knew I just wanted to soak in the pool so I walked around and found the pool.'

  
  Bangkok Post (26 Feb. '09):

  'Don't be shocked if you bump into someone looking like this in Mae Hong Son, that popular destination in the North. And, no, it's not some bizarre, hill-tribe custom! In a rice-growing area on the outskirts of the provincial town there are natural hot springs. And some time ago a spa was set up here, in the middle of nowhere, when it was discovered that the local black mud is rich in beneficial minerals. Now people flock here from as far away as Bangkok to bathe in the hot springs and indulge in mud wraps and other beauty treatments'.

  On Pha Bong:

  'I didn't think I would like it because I passed it on the bus and it looked like large swimming pools, but the pools were really very large sources. No soaking but it was cool to see the massive amounts of hot water coming out of the ground in this place.'

• Vonzwecktrek posts on a visit to Jaeson, Lampang province:

  'But the main attraction of the park is it’s natural hot springs. The scalding hot pools are a vibrant aquamarine and smell of sulphur'.

• Onsensoaker once more helps locate a yet unknown (?) hot spring in Chiang Dao, north of Chiang Mai. She adds:

  'As for the hot spring in Chiang Dao, a Japanese man living there asked local officials to permit installing a bath on river side 4-5 years ago. I heard another bath was installed after my visit. If you go there, look for left side of the Wildlife Research Station. It's easy to find'.

  Possibly it's the same as this hot springs blogged by Under-the-shade. Place has the same name and the photo looks similar.
  

• More on Pai. A visit by Kyle and Christin to the natural part of the springs brought the following comments:

  'Don't tell anybody, but we unwittingly managed to get in without paying the outrageous farang [=foreigner] price of 200 bhat per person. I glad we didn't, because the bathing area was basically a dirty little knee-deep stream. The water was nice and hot though. Higher up the hill, where the water bubbles up out of the ground, the water is 80 degrees Celsius, too hot for bathing. It is just hot enough, however, to boil some eggs'.

Indonesia

• Another hot spring to add to the links list. Sapan Maluluang. Blogged here on this site the article is originally from the Jakarta Post.

  'Legend has it Sapan Maluluang and its small pond about five by 10 meters square formed after a volcanic eruption. Billowing steam and the pungent smell of sulphur welcomed us as we approached. Too hot for a dip, the waters are said to be 100* Celsius'.

• More unlisted hot springs from Sumatra: Sinkang Jati in south Sumatra as well as Telega Biru.
  

Updates for January

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 ....